MMA vet Damon Jackson once vowed to retire by age 30. Things haven’t gone according to plan, but he’s just fine with that.

“Here I am at 30, and I couldn’t imagine doing anything else,” Jackson told MMA Junkie Radio in advance of his PFL debut opposite Movlid Khaybulaev on Thursday at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, N.Y.

A few years back, Jackson had an eye on the exit door. He’d fought through the regional circuit to earn a UFC contract, only to lose in his debut opposite Yancy Medeiros. His next opponent, Rony Jason, caught him in a triangle and then popped for a diuretic. A majority draw served as his walking papers.

Jackson didn’t quit, though. A new contract with Legacy FC – and later LFA – proved the right move to revitalize his career. He went 7-1 with five straight stoppage finishes.

Soon enough, a UFC feeder, Dana White’s Contender Series, called with an offer. But the gap between his fight was too long for a father of four children, so he accepted an invite to the PFL’s second season.

“If I’m going to wait around that long, I’m going to go to PFL, because that’s a guaranteed payday,” he said. “You get two fights guaranteed, and if you win, you get a lot of money.”

Like every other fighter on the PFL roster, the $1 million tournament prize is the ultimate goal for Jackson. UFC fighters have even inquired about his regular season fights.

“If I’m out there putting as much work in as I do, I want it to be paying off,” he said. “I feel like fighters don’t get treated the right way in a lot of promotions, and I feel like people are starting to see that.”

As he nears his promotional debut, Jackson is confident that all of his experience has served to ready him for this moment. He expects a wrestling-heavy fight against Khaybulaev, but he believes he’ll be able to catch his opponent in a submission.

“I’ve definitely grown a lot as a fighter,” he said.

For more on PFL 2019, Week 2, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.