After first round win over Justin Ledet, Dustin Jacoby believes he’ll be in the top-five in a year

Dustin Jacoby knows the win over Justin Ledet was big for his future.

Jacoby, who had a two-fight stint in the UFC in 2011 and 2012 went 0-2 and was released. He then went to Bellator and where he went 0-2 there and decided to pursue kickboxing.

After years of being in Glory, Jacoby transitioned back to MMA and earned another shot at the UFC after winning on the Contender Series. Jacoby then made his return to the UFC on Halloween where he scored a first-round TKO win over Justin Ledet.

“It was pretty emotional, man. It was everything I dreamed about and something I thought I would do back in the day and it came to reality,” Jacoby said to BJPENN.com. “I realized the work is not done and there are a lot more wins and I plan on going a nice little run to the top.”

For Jacoby, he becomes just the second person to finish Ledet and knows that will set him up for something big.

“It was 100 percent part of our game plan. We talked about depositing checks in the bank of going down the legs early and then we would go up high,” Jacoby explained. “We executed the game plan to a T. It is also something I haven’t thought of is the fact a top-five guy in Aleksandar Rakic wasn’t able to finish him. Only Johnny Walker was able to finish him until me. Ledet is a durable guy and I took him out so I am very happy with my performance.”

The hope for Dustin Jacoby is to keep the momentum going and fight again before the year is up. The 32-year-old knows this win is big for his career as he expects to make a quick run to the top of the light heavyweight division.

“It is wide-open. I wouldn’t be surprised if this time next year I’m in the top-five of the division,” Jacoby concluded. “That is my goal and I need to sit down with my team and go over a road map. Just like what is the path and how do I get there. I’m in a good spot.”

Who would you like to see Dustin Jacoby fight next?