Dustin Anthony Jacoby (born April 4, 1988) is an American professional mixed martial artist and former kickboxer.
[5] In Illinois Jacoby started playing basketball, claiming all-state honors while attending Triopia High School.
[6] Subsequently, Jacoby selected Culver-Stockton College, where he played football two years as a quarterback while studying business management before transferring to Quincy University.
[6] Jacoby was a last-minute replacement for professional boxer Manuel Quezada at the Road to GLORY USA Light Heavyweight (209 lbs.)
[8] He pulled off a major upset, knocking out International Sport Karate Association Heavyweight Champion Randy Blake, fellow mixed martial artist Roy Boughton and 19–0 prospect Brian Collette en route to winning the Tournament Championship.
He then faced Danyo Ilunga in the semis and put up a good fight early, but fell behind in rounds two and three as he was hacked at with leg kicks and lost a unanimous decision.
[15][16][17] He was set to fight Makoto Uehara at GLORY 12: New York: Lightweight World Championship Tournament in New York City on November 23, 2013,[18] but the fight was switched to GLORY 13: Tokyo: Welterweight World Championship Tournament in Tokyo, Japan, on December 21, 2013.
[26] During a college offseason, Jacoby took an amateur mixed martial arts bout and got hooked to the sport immediately.
[6] After the college he started training at Finney's HIT Squad and turned professional after racking up an amateur record of 9-1.
He knocked out Billy Johnson in 45 seconds at an Indiana-based Hoosier Fight Club event on June 2, 2012, followed by a doctor stoppage win over Tim Williams for the Cage Fury FC middleweight title.
[31] Jacoby made his WSOF debut at its inaugural event on November 3, 2012, losing to fellow UFC veteran David Branch via unanimous decision.
[32] Jacoby stepped in as a replacement for an injured Marcus Sursa to face Muhammed Lawal on September 5, 2014, at Bellator 123.
[36] On August 4, 2020, Jacoby headlined Dana White's Contender Series Season 4 opening week against Ty Flores.
[42] Jacoby faced Ion Cuțelaba, replacing injured Devin Clark, on May 1, 2021, at UFC on ESPN: Reyes vs.
[48] Replacing Aleksa Camur, Jacoby faced John Allan on short notice on November 6, 2021, at UFC 268.