Jax Forrest recently revealed his wish to compete in MMA while training with Diego Lopes. The 2026 national champion is currently gearing up for the upcoming World Team Trials.
Forrest was last seen in action at the 2026 US Open, where he competed in the 61kg weight class. He entered the tournament as the top seed and the defending champion and locked horns with Tallon Chambers in the round of 16. In this bout, he delivered a significant performance, securing a 10-0 technical fall. Following this, he competed in the semifinal round, where he faced loss against Benjamin Davino by 8-4.
Following this major upset, he bounced back in the consolations, earning third place with a 5-0 decision over Austin DeSanto. He is currently preparing to seal his spot at the World Championships by training for the upcoming World Team Trials Challenge Tournament and Final X. Amid this, he was recently seen in Lopes’ YouTube video of his training for the upcoming UFC Freedom 250 card.
Here, Forrest made his feelings known about competing in MMA in the future. Opening up about his plans, he said:
“At least one fight in my life. I don’t know if it will be like my career or anything, but I got to do at least one. Get in an octagon, just throw down. Yeah, I always said that. I don’t know if it’s like, I mean, you watch UFC and you’re like, damn, that’s cool, I wanna do that. I don’t know if I’d want my job to get hit in the face, but I want to do at least one. And then if I like it, who knows, but definitely gonna do one,” said Jax Forrest.
Jax Forrest weighed in on becoming the national champion after the 2026 championships
Representing the Oklahoma State Cowboys wrestling team at the 2026 National Championships, Jax Forrest delivered a strong performance at the tournament. Competing in the 133-pound event, he squared off against Ben Davino in the finals and secured a 5-2 win to become the national champion. Following this notable feat, he made his feelings known about becoming the champion in the post-match press conference.
“Yeah, it was surreal. You know, I’ve dreamed of this day for a long time, and it like slowly just happening over the weekend, over the year, faster than I thought. It was just awesome. It was just a feeling, you know, unlike any other that I’ve had” said Jax Forrest.
Further talking about his journey of quickly transitioning from high school to winning the national championship, he added:
“Yeah, it was definitely weird. Leaving earlier than what I thought I was going to be, but you know, I had it planned out for a while that I was going to be going down there, and then it was just figuring out, you know, am I wrestling? Am I red shirting, gray shirting, you know, all the details there. But then, once I got on campus, you know, I was already with my boys that I was already friends with. And then it was just right into I got there, and then the next week wrestled OU. So, didn’t have too much time to process it, you know, kind of went straight head-on. And, you know, that’s what I like. I like going right into the problem and finding a way to get on top.”
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