Dustin Jacoby takes pride in the fact he’s never pulled out of a fight during his 14-year career, but that almost changed ahead of UFC Tampa.
Less than a month out from his matchup against Vitor Petrino, the 36-year-old light heavyweight was sparring during his training camp when a freak injury ended with a trip to the emergency room. The incident left a trail of blood across the floor and, for the first time, Jacoby felt like he might actually have to call the UFC to tell them he couldn’t compete.
“Three weeks prior to the fight, I completely ripped my right big toe off my foot,” Jacoby told MMA Fighting. “I could not run, walk, train, nothing the entire week. I was really nervous that I was not going to be able to make the walk to the octagon. In over 50 pro fights between MMA and kickboxing, I’ve never not once shown up on the day that I was going to when I sign the contract and I take a lot of pride in that.
“There was a lot of doubts, especially when I ripped that toe off. It was very reminiscent of when Jon Jones fought Chael Sonnen and his foot was posted out and his big toe just ripped off. That’s exactly what happened on my right foot.”
Back in 2013, Jones scored a TKO finish over Sonnen to defend his light heavyweight title at UFC 159. However, if the fight had gone past the first round, there’s almost no chance a doctor would have allowed it to continue. On that night, Jones suffered a gruesome injury after the top half of his big toe got torn in half. After the fight, close-up images showed that Jones’ toe was dangling by a piece of skin that required him to get immediate medical attention.
Jacoby says his injury was eerily similar and when it first happened, he knew something was wrong with his toe. It wasn’t until he actually examined it closer that he fully realized the extent of the damage.
“I was posted, and I thought I stubbed my toe,” Jacoby said. “I felt it right when it happened. I thought I rolled my toe or I stubbed it. I finished the round, the round got over and I started walking back to my corner and I’m like holy shit, my foot really hurts. We saw blood everywhere and I took my training pad off and sat down on the stool and I saw the inside of my right big toe had a huge cut on it. I’m like where in the heck did that come from? I thought I just stubbed it.
“I grabbed my toe to see how bad it was, and my entire toe just came off my foot. It was like a door hinge. I freaked out, I pushed it back and I looked around and I was like ‘I have to go somewhere right now.’ Immediately at that point I’m like, I’m not fighting. My fight’s done. I have to fight in three weeks.”
Jacoby went to the hospital to get his toe re-attached, but also got some unexpected good news from the doctors who were tended to him.
“I go and I get it X-rayed, and it wasn’t broke,” Jacoby said. “It was dislocated, and I put it back in place. They stitched it up and they told me right then and there, ‘I don’t see why you wouldn’t be able [to fight].’ With the stitches, it’s going to be uncomfortable for a week or two and I was like, I fight in three weeks. I guess if I can walk on it and move on it, I guess I’m going to make that walk. And I certainly did.”
Not only did Jacoby make that walk, but he scored a devastating third-round knockout that earned him a $50,000 bonus. The result paid off, but even in the moment, Jacoby wasn’t sure how much of a risk he was taking.
In the end, Jacoby says the toe didn’t even really bother him during the fight but that might also explain why he wasn’t exactly kicking at every opportunity.
“Adrenaline is a hell of a drug,” Jacoby said with a laugh. “I didn’t feel it one time there in the fight. It’s insane what the human body is capable of! I couldn’t believe it.”
As for the knockout, Jacoby can’t imagime a better ending to the fight after he connected with the perfect punch that absolutely demolished Petrino.
“I think it has to be No. 1,” Jacoby said about where he ranks that finish for his career. “I’ve had some good ones but just the way it was thrown, the way it connected, the way it spun his head, every single thing about it was picture perfect.
“One of the sickest knockouts of my career and—I’ll be a fan here—I think that I’ve seen in the UFC octagon. It was pretty cool.”
As far as fighting just a few weeks after nearly losing a toe, Jacoby has zero regrets and he’s proud that he got to keep his streak alive.
“I take a lot of pride that I’ve never pulled out of a fight,” Jacoby said. “I’ve never said no to a fight. That’s where I stand today. I’ve never ran from anything in this career.”
