Never Stop Fighting - Jason Nicholson

In depth exclusive by Joseph Egloff of MMA Blaster, text copyrighted

Jason Nicholson is a 155 pound up and coming fighter from Whiteville, North Carolina. Jason holds a third degree black belt in Champion Karate and a second degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do. The stand-up specialist will face a tough test in veteran Muhsin Corbbrey for the ICF 155 pound championship on October 18th.

Jason was born and raised in North Carolina. He began Karate when he was 10 years old and competitive Tae Kwon Do at age 11. Jason is proud of his native American ancestry, as there seems to be a lack of Native American fighters in mma. Jason said, “I take pride in my heritage, I want to represent them well.”

Jason joined the National Guard and then went to the Army right after high school. He served from 1999 to 2002 primarily in the military police, MP. After getting back from the Army, he began working as a corrections officer.

Jason scratched his competitive itch by taking kickboxing fights. He managed to get six fights in the North Carolina and Virginia area, but as mma got bigger, kickboxing opportunities went down the drain. In regards to kickboxing, Jason said, “It was really tough to get a kickboxing fight. They’d get cancelled all the time.”

Jason was training at Joe Lewis Kickboxing when he started to get more into mma around 2004. His first fight was in February 2005 in Augusta Georgia. Jason had taken a fight at 170, went down to weigh-in the day before, made weight with ease, re-hydrated himself and relaxed.

The next day, the promoter contacted him and said his opponent was at 155 and Jason had to make 155 in order to fight. Jason couldn’t let the opportunity to fight pass him by. He nearly killed himself making weight laying in the sauna and running just hours before he was scheduled to compete. Jason made weight, and while he didn’t perform his best during the fight that night, he made quite an impression on the promoter and all the fans that had come to see him. Jason never gave up and fought tooth and nail, never quitting. His gritty performance earned him the nickname, the Pitbull, and it has stuck ever since.

Since then, Jason has fought 6 amateur fights and 10 additional pro fights in Alabama, Virginia, Georgia and North Carolina. He has been training non-stop since that first fight. Jason is the type of guy that if offered a fight has a hard time turning it down. When commenting on his evolution as a fighter, Jason remarked, “My game has done a 360. I’m a lot more well rounded. I know arm-bars, sweeps, passes and have a much better wrestling game.”

Much of Jason's success is due to his training partners, Shaun Burns, Vince Patrick and Josh Robertson as well as Ringside Boxing and MMA. Jason credits Josh for much of his jiu-jitsu improvement. Vince has helped with his karate and kickboxing. Shaun has helped in all facets. To improve his wrestling game he has been training with some local wrestlers, one of which is off to Ohio State University on a wrestling scholarship.

Jason’s goal in mma is plain and simple, make it to the UFC. Jason knows that a win over a top level fighter like Muhsin can get him to that plateau. He wants to get his foot in the door somehow, even if it means being a contestant on The Ultimate Fighter reality show. When speaking about the UFC, he said, “I’ll fight for free, I don’t care. If I beat a top level fighter I can get noticed by the UFC.”

One of Jason’s biggest supporters is his ex-wife’s Grandfather. “He loves the UFC and MMA,” said Jason. “He is getting older, but he always checks up on me to see how I’m doing in training. I’d like to get him out to see me fight.”

Jason would like to thank the Prison Emergency Team for coming to his fights. He’d also like to thank all his training partners for helping him get ready for his next bout. In addition, Jason would like to thank Omega Attire and Body Shapers Gym and Fitness Center for sponsoring him.

*Text is copyrighted by MMA Blaster. Photo's used with the permission of Jason Nicholson