City Kickboxing prospect's UFC return cancelled

By Christopher Reive

Kevin Jousset has had his return to the UFC octagon fall through in the worst way possible.

The City Kickboxing-trained welterweight was ready to continue his impressive start to his tenure as a UFC fighter on Sunday and was scheduled to meet Jared Gooden at the UFC fight night in St Louis on Sunday.

The bout, however, was cancelled after the weigh-ins.

Jousset went through a full training camp and weight cut, making weight early on Saturday morning, but Gooden, who had previously had some trouble on the scales, never showed up to weigh in.

The UFC announced the fight had been cancelled “due to medical reasons” later on Saturday morning. When contacted by the Herald as to whether Jousset would receive his show money for successfully making weight, the promotion said it does not share that information.

“I weighed in at 170.5[lbs], made the weight like I always do. I don’t know what happened to him... what I know is he didn’t make it and the fight is cancelled,” Jousset said.

“I’m f***ing disgusted and disappointed, but it is what it is. I can’t do anything about it. Now I’m waiting for the UFC to see what I’m going to do next. I don’t know if I’m going to fight again soon or not because I’ll have to cut weight again which is never an easy thing for me, even if I make it every time.

“There’s a few different options, so I’m not sure just yet... I’ll make the next guy pay for the both of them.”

One of those options would be a fight in his home country of France, with the UFC set to host an event in Paris in late September.

Speaking to the Herald earlier in the week, Jousset said that was a card his management team were already trying to get him on anyway.

“I need to fight back home and I think that’s going to be a huge step for me and my career.”

Jousset has made a perfect start to life in the UFC, claiming a first-round submission on debut last September, before a clinical performance saw him get his arm raised in December.

In those two bouts, Jousset made his mark largely through his striking. Against UFC veteran Song Kenan in December, he worked well behind his jab and outstruck Kenan by a wide margin.

It was an impressive performance from a fighter whose background is in judo and who has developed his striking over the past few years under the watchful eye of Eugene Bareman, after relocating to join the Auckland gym just prior to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Jousset knows there is still plenty in his toolkit that he hasn’t had to show yet in the UFC, but the opportunity to do so will now have to wait a bit longer.

Jousset will still be on the ground on St Louis to support City Kickboxing teammate Carlos Ulberg, who will look to crack the top-15 rankings in the light heavyweight division for the first time.

Ulberg meets heavy-hitting American Alonzo Menifield, who is currently ranked 11th in the division, on the main card; both fighters successfully making weight below the 206lbs (93.4kg) limit for a light heavyweight non-title fight.

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission