Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Lighweight Jordan Leavitt returned to the win column against veteran Kurt Holobaugh, strangling him unconscious with an anaconda choke last weekend (Sat., May 31, 2025) at UFC Vegas 107 from inside the UFC Apex in Las Vegas (watch highlights).
Leavitt returned in fantastic fashion from a 19-month layoff, during which he dealt with numerous injuries for the first time in his career, including multiple concussions, knee surgery, and burst eardrums. On top of that, the last memory fans had of him was a first-round submission loss to Chase Hooper.
But that “Monkey King” is gone because he is a real fighter now.
“Some people think I’m cringe. Some people think I’m zesty or soft or sweet, or weird or awkward or autistic,” Leavitt told MMAMania.com during his post-fight interview. “I’ve always given myself an out when I was fighting, and it was easy for me not to take it seriously because I’ve taken no damage in my fight career, and I’ve been very blessed. But I always walked out to funny walk-out songs because I wanted to make sure that if I lost, at least I was in on the joke. Now I’m taking myself seriously. I’m looking in the mirror, and I see a fighter—the person I’m growing into.”
“I’m still young, so in my mind, I’m 1-0 right now; my career has just started,” Leavitt added. “I was in tutorial mode, and I was a bum 18 months ago. I’m a real fighter now, and I’m going to grow into an even better fighter.”
It was after his loss to Hooper that Leavitt experienced a complete shift in thinking because he didn’t want to let his family down.
“When I lost my fight, my wife and my baby were due two days after. I felt like I failed my family, and I feel like I wouldn’t have failed them if I had taken it more seriously,” Leavitt said. “Chase beat me, and he was a better man that night. But I made so many mistakes, and if I was taking it more seriously and I was seeing myself in a more positive way, I wouldn’t have acted like a fool and lost in my, you know, in my estimation.”
“I want to have a big family, and a big family needs a strong father, a father who takes himself seriously, a father who puts his all into the work he does. And that’s what I’m doing,” Leavitt concluded. “I have never trained so professionally before in a fight camp, and it was only five weeks. I finally have coaches that I trust, my health is in check, and I’m in a spot in my life where I can look at myself honestly, and I’m happy with that.”
For complete UFC Vegas 107 results, coverage, and highlights click HERE.
