Everyone's Favorite Red Belt

Fighter profile of Jesse Pinkman by Tycoon Judas

 Jesse Pinkman

The Legacy of Albuquerque's finest product Jesse "Champ-Champ" Pinkman continues to grow. Currently the DMMA poster boy as their current 145- and 155-pound champions. Defending those belts in 9 straight successful Title defenses (4 at 145, and 5 at 155). From his humble beginnings under the guidance of Judo Beau to his unfortunate 1 and 2 run under Manager V Caliman, to his complete resurrection when arriving at the Heartless Team . Jesse Pinkman has carried the DMMA Banner as only the former Welterweight champion Jaxon Magrath has done, we should note Pinkman has a huge win over Magrath in his current 13-2 run with Not Skenoj in his corner. 

This story begins though in the grappling world and the Catch Wrestling Championship, this proved to be a key place that set the foundation of what would become of the BJJ Red Belt. Sure, Pinkmans overall grappling record was a less than stellar 5-5 but he proved to have a very nice base in BJJ and collected 4 submission wins out of 5 in his time in the TWGC competition. Before his grappling career would come to an end Manager Judo Beau was in Pinkman's ear about giving MMA a chance and they contacted the up-and-coming organization known as Dynasty MMA about giving Jesse a shot.

In May of 2021 made his DMMA debut at DMMA 7: Trivette vs Mac Airt where he come out on top in a one-sided Unanimous Decision. His ground game back then was still a work in progress though as he had struggles as a 21-year-old prospect. Jesse would go to win his next 3 fights with first round submissions all of which one "SOTN" honors. Two of those wins being fairly notable DMMA fighters in Mr Mojo Risin and Cormac Mac Airt, with this streak the DMMA bookers felt Pinkman was ready for the Title fight and on September 26th of 2021 Pinkman vs then champ Ranger Alderidge was the main event of DMMA 47. Sticking to his slick ever improving Submission game Pinkman took out the champ with a First round Triangle choke winning his first ever title. His first run would see him defend the belt one time until dropping it two rising star Xylon Kofel in December of 2021. At this point Pinkman found himself in a rough spot losing his belt and His manager at the same time. 

2022 Jesse would find a new Management team and Head Coach in the likes of V Caliman and things would start nicely. Jesse would start the year on a positive note taking a Unanimous Decision verdict over Chike Obi. Jesse would hit a hideous two fight Lossing streak at this point which is about as bad as it gets for this kid. With the back-to-back losses to Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez and Kain Mack, Jesse immediately separated himself from Team V Cali and declared himself a FA.

On April 20th of 2022 Pinkman was taking a slight Hiatus from the sport of MMA an the now 25-year-old took advantage of the time as he partied like a Fookin Rock Star in his new home of Montreal. It was here that he ran into the owner of the Heartless team gym Not Skenoj. The two strook up a bond one night in a local Montreal strip club, and the very next day Jesse called Heartless team his new home. No with his new Cornerman with him Pinkman made his return to the DMMA cage in a "Fight of the Night" Performance. After weathering the early storm from a future champ in his own right Kra Hang losing the first two rounds, Pinkman would ultimately wear down Hang and finish him with Ground and pound with just 4 seconds to go in a fight he was about to lose. Quite the return for Jesse if you ask me but like all Comeback stories there are ups and downs and his would come at the hands of a very familiar foe Former Lightweight champion Xylon Kofel. It was Dejeu vu in fact as Pinkman would drop a Unanimous Decision to Kofel this time in a 3 round non-title fight though.

At this point I believe the cord was struck and Jesse told himself no more half Assing, as he went back to the gym and got there before the coach Skenoj who was very impressed. Jesse went on to win two fights in a row, first another "SOTN" performance over Pate Murhapuro followed by a dominant Unanimous Decision over Corey McGraugh. At this time Kra Hang was fresh off a (T)KO win over Aubrey Grant winning hang the Lightweight strap and setting up a highly anticipate rematch with Jesse whom Pinkman beat 5 months prior. This rematch saw Pinkman break out as a top-level fighter in both Standup and the ground game as he outclassed one of Thailand's finest strikers! 

Jesse would then defend his Lightweight title in 3 straight defenses two of which were absolute wars with another former Lightweight champ in Aubrey Grant. The other was a fight on paper Pinkman was a huge underdog in IMO, even as the Lightweight champion as he met the former and most Dominant champion in Dynasty History in Hall of famer Jaxon Magrath. Just a month prior to this fight Pinkman was awarded his Red Belt in BJJ, and it would come in handy against Jaxon who he forced to tape out via Triangle submission at just 4:18 in the first round. This was a huge feather under the cap for Jesse and it would only get better.

After his second win against Grant to start 2023 Jesse was given a shot at the featherweight strap against then champion Sean O Malley quite possibly the most devastating Striker in the lower weight classes(Excluding Marko Kersikov possibly), Sean was fresh off a second round Title capturing win over another Hall of famer in Renji Abarai, which he would cap that off with his 3rd straight "KOTN" Performance against Shigeru Otori which would lead up to the Champ vs Champ showdown with Pinkman. The fight against O Malley was just another step into the Legacy Jesse continues to improve on, winning him both "FOTN" and "SOTN" and of course the ever-important champ-champ status which has never been done in DMMA to this day.

Jesse Pinkman at this point has made quite the name for himself and when asked about another Champion vs Champion fight Jesse says bring it. That fight would prove to be another slight setback in Jesse's career as he would underestimate the speed and power of Marko Kersikov leading to a first round KO loss to the Ukrainian bomber. The loss to Marko would snap a 7 fight win streak in which 5 of those where title fights. The fight itself was just for bragging rights though and the champ-champ had a ton of work still to do defending his belts!

Jesse would stay at Featherweight next for his first Title defense against the same man he previously beat for the belt in O Malley. OMalley just beat Renji Abarai yet again in a #1 contender fight and though he made some good adjustments the Champ-Champ made his first Successful Defense with a 5 round Unanimous Decision. This would be the start of the real grit and determination of Jesse Pinkman as he was able to shake off a late scar when "Super" Sean landed a vicious hook sending Jesse into the third dimension of fuckery. We would see Jesse return to lightweight next as he met the then #`1 contender Motshan Bogachev who would also give the champ-champ quite the shocker rocking cleaning Jesse's alarm clock early in round 2 with a crisp counter right hand. This rock states for Pinkman prove to just a wake up surely as he goes back to his dominating ways. Pinkman would stay at 155 for another challenge next against Anabolic Asteroid who was riding a 7-fight win streak leading up to their showdown.

Pinkman vs Asteroid was a part DMMA May the 4th be with You which went down as the biggest event in the promotion History and the Their CO-Main Event feature stole the show winning "FOTN" honors for both gentlemen. After racking up the first three rounds it looked like Pinkman was cruising to another Dominating performance when Pinkman yet again needed a wakeup call and Anabolic obliged with a counter. The alarm clock went off and Jesse went right back to work earning his 5th Successful Title defense at Lightweight. With the win Pinkman inched closer to the top 25 P4P worldwide clocking it at 27.

Jesse was next pitted against the up and comer Bam Bam Joshy I similar fighter and probably his first legit grappler for an opponent in some time. Jesse did not let up on Bam Bam for a minute though as he took him down round after round and balanced out his Control on the ground with a steady flow of GnP and Submission attempts. Joshy was outclassed on the ground and at 1:23 of round #4 the VIPER strikes with a Armbar submission that the challenger wanted no part of forcing the tap. This leads us Pinkmans most recent Challenger and one he knew very well already handing him 2 consecutive loses leading into Pinkman vs Grant 3! 

Aubrey Grant is a DMMA Ironman candidate for a good reason going to Decision 19 of his 25 pro fights. Aubrey brought Pinkman to the Championship rounds in both of their previous meetings but like so many others had his problems with the BJJ Red Belt. This fight though Jesse wanted to make a statement and he did so in electrifying fashion forcing Grant to tap out with just 2 seconds remaining in the very first round with a well-timed Guillotine choke sweeping the series with Grant 3-0. Now at 21-5-0 as a pro and the #1 Featherweight in the World as well as the #3 ranked Lightweight in the world what does the next chapter look like for Jesse "The Champ-Champ" Pinkman? 

Will we see Jesse move down and grab a third belt? This has been discussed but currently the 135 division is going through a makeover and will be Crowning a new champion very soon. Some good fights to mention at 135 for Jesse are potentially a third bout with O Malley who is in the hunt at Bantamweight now. Or a fresh challenge like Chukwu Adeoluwa who will match him with Elite wrestling. Of course, there is a potential rematch with the last man to beat Jesse and the only fighter to ever Knock him out in Marko Kersikov.

There are still contenders rising at 155 and 145 respectfully as well. At Featherweight it's kind of slim Pickens currently for Jesse with Aubrey Grant still being the top challenger. There are couple guys to note though, one is the brother of Marko, Dmitri Kersikov the second is Jian Zhao who has been bouncing back and forth at 145 and 155 himself in his pursuit of a championship. Right now, though 155 looks to have the best market for a challenger with the likes of Kwasi Kwong and Sergej Kersikov who will fight on 2023-06-24. But the most intriguing matchup has got to be the man who has beaten Jesse not once but twice in his career. A real thorn in the side of the Champ-Champ if you will in the former Lightweight Champion Xylon Kofel who has gone 3-1 since his return from a short break in action. Kofel looks for another big win this Weekend against another strong challenger in Oscar Blaydes. 

With the next DMMA Hall of Fame class coming around the corner, You got to put the Champ-Champ Jesse Pinkman in the mix. This has been your Host Douche T. McBaggins The part time DMMA Anal Journalist and Full time Drunkard and keep your eye out for this kid Jesse Pinkman, he's kind of a big deal ya know!

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