MMA star Bubba Jenkins opens up on his heartache over losing the $1M PFL finals bout, which is all about the winner… but now he’s out for revenge
MMA star Bubba Jenkins was just one win away from a million dollars – now he’s back with revenge.
Jenkins is signed to the Professional Fighters League, MMA’s only seasonal format with qualifying and knockout stages.
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Points are accumulated per winning method in the qualifying rounds, with the top four in each division advancing to the playoffs.
It’s win or go from here, culminating in a final match with a title belt and $1 million prize check in store for you.
Jenkins, 35, made it to the final last year but was beaten by Brit Brendan Loughnane, 33, in round four.
Now the American is back again this season after overcoming the heartache of losing the life-changing sum.
Jenkins told SunSport, “It felt like I lost a million dollars. I don’t know if you’ve ever felt like you lost a million dollars…
“I felt like I lost a million dollars and all the ideals I wanted to use it for.
“But being the warrior that I am and the fighter that I am, it didn’t take long for me to get back to the point where I’m like, ‘Let’s get it one more time.'”
Jenkins defeated his old rival Chris Wade, 35, in the first regular-season fight of the 2023 PFL season.
He returns against 30-year-old Jo Sungbin (9-2) in Atlanta on Thursday as he continues his journey back to the $1 million mark.
Jenkins said, “I was hungrier for the season, hungrier to get what I just left out.
“I can’t say he made it if he beat me, but I feel like I won the fight and was beaten at a certain moment. It feels like it’s in my hands and it’s slipped away.
“Starting this season I felt very inspired and motivated to go back there from a hunter’s perspective and have the food right there and get away with it in the end.”
Jenkins has big plans in mind if he wins the lump sum, including giving back to the people of Ghana, where he has family roots.
He said: “I would distribute it among my people. I would invest it, I build a team, I fight for visions and movements for people much bigger than me.
“My bloodline is from Ghana, so I’m trying to fill a gap to the fighting world, similar to Francis [Ngannou] is doing.
“I’m going back, grabbing some of my African brothers from Africa and bringing them into the fighting game.
“When it comes to what I would do, I would strengthen my team so that all the vision and movements that we have are based on a strong base and intelligence.”
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