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He got right back at it, winning four of his next five before a pair of losses to Mo Lawal and John Salter, and while he had already started competing in pro kickboxing, he went all-in after the Salter fight in 2015.
By 2019, he was giving MMA another go, with the goal clear in his head. He was getting back to the UFC, eager to prove that he was a different fighter – and man – than he was back in 2012.
“Now I’m the guy that gets up and goes to the gym every day,” Jacoby said. “I’m the guy that steps inside that ring and steps inside that cage and has faced those opponents and went toe-to-toe with them. I went through the trials and tribulations and it’s just hardened me mentally and matured me. Being a little bit older, I take my career much more serious and it’s more job-like. Every single day, I eat healthy and take care of my body better and it’s a priority. When I was younger, I was always the guy that would get hurt, and you know what, I don’t need to go see anybody. A couple days later I’d be fine. I’ve been very blessed that way. But the older I get and all the battles that I’ve been through, I feel it a little bit, and now it’s a priority of mine to get to rehab and go to physical therapy twice a week and to take care of myself better. The biggest thing is maturity. I feel the difference between the 23-year-old UFC fighter and this 32-year-old UFC fighter is night and day different.”
Just don’t call him the old guy.
“To put it in perspective, it felt like everybody looked at me like ‘Who’s this old man on the Contender Series?’” he laughs. “And now that I got the contract and I’m in the UFC, 32 years old, man, I’m in my prime. I’m not the young guy but I’m not the old guy, either. There’s a lot of guys that don’t find their true success in mixed martial arts until their mid to late thirties. So I’m looking forward to the run I’m about to go on and the challenges ahead.”