Jackson McVey, UFC 317 official weigh-in Credit: Eddie Law/Cageside Press
Debuting at UFC 318 this Saturday is Jackson McVey, an undefeated middleweight nicknamed “The Moose.” McVey was supposed to fight at UFC 317 during International Fight Week, only for Sedriques Dumas to pull out, and be replaced by Christopher Ewert. Then Ewert botched his weight cut, leaving McVey without a fight. Now, he gets Brunno Ferreira in New Orleans.
Jackson “The Moose” McVey
Standing at six-foot-four
Fighting at 185 lbs (middleweight)
26-years-old
Fighting out of St. Louis, Missouri, US
Training out of St. Charles MMA
A pro record of 6-0
3 KO/TKOs, 3 Submissions
McVey steps into this fight on short notice, fresh off a dominant win last month at LFA 210. He’s a tricky prospect to fully evaluate, mainly because he hasn’t spent much time in the cage. As a pro, his longest fight has lasted just 3 minutes and 47 seconds. He’s steamrolled through every opponent so far, with minimal resistance.
His lone career loss came as an amateur, submitted by Contender Series alum Wes Schultz via armbar in under a minute. That result didn’t provide many answers either. The biggest question surrounding McVey is how he’ll perform in extended, competitive fights. But based on what we’ve seen, he’s a dangerous fighter in multiple areas.
McVey prefers to operate in the clinch, where he’s nasty. In open space, he throws a variety of kicks, particularly to the body, including a solid teep. He fights long, but his boxing still needs development. He tends to keep his hands low and wide, leaving gaps in his defense and limiting his hand speed.
The clinch is where McVey really shines. He’s aggressive and calculated, using head pressure and wrist control to land short elbows, knees, and punches. He’s excellent at manipulating his opponent’s wrists, often pulling them across the body to open up clean shots. Fighters have to be cautious when dipping their heads in the clinch, as McVey actively threatens front headlocks.
He has shown flashes of solid cage wrestling, mixing in knee taps and trips to get fights to the ground. He’s also clearly a submission grappler. Standing at 6’4″, he uses his long limbs effectively to hunt for chokes. The neck is his specialty; he’s secured guillotines and triangles in the past, and he’s shown comfort attacking off his back. With his size and awareness, McVey has the makings of a real submission threat at the UFC level.
The sample size is still small, and McVey hasn’t yet been tested deep into fights. There are layers of his game we just haven’t seen. But the tools are there, especially in a shallow middleweight division where upward mobility comes faster.
Matchup Outlook vs. Ferreira:
Jackson McVey went from getting a favorable fight in SD Dumas to a dangerous test in Bruno Ferreira. Bruno is a power puncher and submission threat. He’s going to test McVey’s durability, chin, and physicality. McVey is +425, and it’s largely because of the unknown.
Ferreira is far from a perfect fighter. Sloppy on the feet and cardio drains as the fight goes on. I think there is value in McVey at his price. He’s six inches taller, and that should come into play in space, and the clinch, where he’s best. It depends on how he handles the power of Ferreria because his chin hasn’t been tested. I also imagine that if the fight goes longer than a few minutes, Ferreira will wrestle.
It would be interesting to see how well the jiu-jitsu of McVey translates against Ferreira off his back. He’s the longer fighter so he should be able to threaten with submissions. I’m picking Ferreira because I think he’s more proven and quite the opponent for McVey.