Jimmy Jordan throwing a right cross.

Jimmy Jordan (5-3) ended up in an unlikely place.

The former football coach at Wilkes University would skip over anything MMA related on TV, but it all changed on a Saturday night in July 2011.

“I went to just support my friend (William Weber), in some activity that I had no idea what they were doing,” Jordan said. “Once I saw it, I saw the spotlight on them, everything else was dark and all these  people were screaming for entertainment from these guys and I just thought I could do it. Was training that Monday.”

Five years later, the 31-year old is one-half of the PA Cage Fights 25 main event. He fights Andy Perez at the Woodland’s Inn and Resort in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania Aug.19, 2016.

After finishing (7-1) in the amateurs, Jordan won his first five professional bouts, including a lightweight championship over Shelby Graham (5-11) via unanimous decision for the PA Cage Fights title on Feb. 2, 2014. He successfully defended the belt three months later at PA Cage Fights 21 with another unanimous decision over Paul Sweda (1-3).

It is the last time Jordan won.

The once undefeated champion lost two of his last three bouts by submission and the third by TKO when Nathan Vantassel finished him at PA Cage Fights 23 on March 26, 2016.

“The biggest problem I had was going 5-0 to start, losing only one in the amateurs, I was really on a high horse for a while there and those few (losses) in a row really knocked me down, and kind of hurt my pride,” Jordan said. “So the only thing I have left to prove, to myself, is that I’m capable of much more than I have shown in the past.”

Jordan trains at Swoyersville MMA alongside PA Cage Fights’ Richie Gates (4-1), and World Series of Fighting’s Rex Harris (10-2). In a gym where there is no official coach, UFC veteran, Jimmy Hettes is who Jordan feels most closely resembles the role.

 A bartender at Back Road Ale House, which sits on the same block as his gym, Jordan draws a large amount of support from his employer and the bar patrons. Along with his family and friends, it’s a fan base he doesn’t take for granted.

Jordan wants to show his supporters the balance of a mature fighter, but is looking to entertain and return to the fighter who started out at (5-0).

“I’m just excited to let the fans see that I’m capable of putting on show, I take my job and my career seriously as an entertainer,” Jordan said. “I feel people spend their hard-earned money to come watch and they want to be entertained.”

By Matt Steck