Oskaloosa Native Jesse Sanders Takes To The Cage Once Again

Oskaloosa native and UFC veteran Jesse Sanders

Ottumwa, Iowa – Mixed Martial Arts. Those three words represent one of the fastest growing spectator sports in the United States.

That sport has found its way to Ottumwa and one of Oskaloosa’s native sons.

Jesse ‘Iron Jaw’ Sanders started off life in Oskaloosa until about the second grade. He then came home to Oskaloosa when he was 20 years old, where by that time, Jesse had already taken up the sport of boxing.

Sanders was an amateur boxer by 16 and had won the Golden Gloves by the age of 17. “I went on to fight a couple of Toughman contests” where he scored a couple of wins.

Sanders says that as boxing slowed down, he was looking for other avenues to compete. “Mixed martial arts was starting to get pretty popular at the time, so I got out of boxing and entered MMA.”

With that, Sanders made it to the top of the sport, fighting in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Their pay-per-view events, and now reality tv shows have helped make UFC a common household name.

“UFC was, by far, the best organization I’ve ever fought for. They take care of their fighters. They make you feel welcome.” Sanders says about his time in the UFC, where fighting in front of a crowd of over ten-thousand fans “is pretty overwhelming.”

One of the most important aspects of preparing for a fight, like similar sports such as wrestling and boxing, is making weight. That way, competitors fight those of similar size. Sanders cut 22 pounds for his fight on Saturday, where he says the last day before weigh-in is the “most grueling part of it, getting those last few pounds off.”

Once the fighter weighs in, they then begin the process of re-hydrating and “time to refuel,” Sanders says.

Sanders, who hasn’t fought in over a year and came out of retirement for the fight, has his ever-present smile on as he walks around the staging area behind the cage.

Once fight day arrives, “you do a lot of sitting around, you do a lot of thinking.” Sanders explains that the psychology part of the preparation is important. “You’ve got 100 thoughts running through your head, and you’re just trying to think about how tonight’s going to go.”

Fighters walk towards the cage where friends, who may help with training, and/or family are there for support. Meanwhile, typically, the fighter has their intro music playing. There is also a corner man there that helps to grease up a fighters face in an effort to diminish the punishment a fighters face can take during the fight.

Sanders says that beforehand, you’ll get the jitters and you’ll run 100 different scenarios through your head and “you’re just as nervous as can be until you get in that cage. Once you get in that cage, it’s like a different world.”

“It gets serious when the cage door shuts, and the referee says it’s time to get it on. It’s like you’re in your own little world.” Sanders says of those moments as the fight gets underway. “They shut the door, and it’s time to go to work.”

The competition of the sport is something that Sanders loves. “There’s a lot of good competitors out here… It’s like a chess match in there. Whichever fighter’s got the best game plan and executes the best game plan is the fighter that’s going to win the fight.”

Sanders is just moments away from stepping into the cage with Dan McGlasson, a fighter who is taller and has a longer reach, something that in the boxing world would be a distinct advantage, and can be as well in MMA.

“I feel more comfortable fighting a taller guy,” Sanders says. “I’m going to be looking mainly to get inside and land the left hook… that’s my goal.”

Sanders says that during his boxing days, many of his opponents there had the reach advantage and trained with taller guys, “I just feel more comfortable with guys who think they have that reach advantage. I’m pretty good at getting on that inside, and I use it to my advantage.”

The evening’s card progresses through ten fights, where the crowd could be heard roaring as fighters clashed in the cage. Sanders catches a few glimpses of some of the fights but concentrates on his main event.

His opponent, Dan McGlasson is introduced and walks the aisle into the cage, where he’s introduced. All eyes turn towards that opening where fighters make their appearance on the way to the cage. Sanders appears and the crowd of over 1,000 roars to life.

Final preparations are made, and the door into the cage is locked. Sanders and McGlasson lunge toward each other, and a kick by Sanders misses its mark, and the fight ends up on the ground, someplace that Sanders was trying to avoid.

With just over 2 minutes into the first round, McGlasson finds an opening and takes advantage of it; and just like that, the fight is over.

McGlasson wins the match, and Sanders heads for the back, while his competitor is crowned with the championship belt.

“Rookie mistakes,” Sanders says about his loss and tactics used during the fight. Sanders ‘tapped out’ due to a chokehold by his opponent. Tapping out allows a competitor to say, ‘I have had enough.’

Sanders says he would have preferred for the fight to have not been a ground game, and that they had gotten back to their feet. “I wanted to stay up and bang it out,” Sanders said. “It’s more exciting for the crowd, and it’s more exciting for me. I’d rather stand up and punch each other in the face than roll around smacking each others a**.”

The Keokuk County Deputy and former UFC fighter says, “I’ll be back.” saying he’s not ending his career in that fashion.

Sanders says he’s off to the gym, “I’ve just got to go back and get better.”

Sanders has a huge following locally, and he says, “They deserve a better show, so I’ll be back to give them a better show.”

Bob Jolley is the owner of True Revelation Mixed Martial Arts and promoted Saturday’s ‘Throwdown 15’. He explains that there is nearly three months worth of preparation into putting on an event.

Saturday’s fight was one of the largest, spectator wise, he’s had to date, with a crowd of nearly 1,000 fans at the Bridge View Center in Ottumwa.

If you want to know more about True Revelation Mixed Martial Arts, you can visit them on their Facebook page HERE.