UFC 293: The family connection behind Jack Jenkins’ AFL obsession
In another life, Jack Jenkins would have been at the MCG this weekend. Instead, the Aussie will be in the Octagon for UFC 293 – with one eye on the AFL finals.
While other fighters pace around, or eye off their opponents backstage at Friday night’s UFC 293 weigh-ins, Jack Jenkins will have his head down in his phone, oblivious to the mayhem around him.
Roughly 20 minutes before the rising featherweight star steps onto the scales for the ceremonial weigh-ins at Qudos Bank Arena, his beloved Sydney Swans start their finals campaign against Carlton at the MCG.
“I’ll be out the back on Kayo on my phone watching the boys and waiting to go onstage,” he tells this masthead. “I live 800m from the G, so I would’ve been there 100 per cent if I was at home.”
The 30-year-old’s Swans fandom goes back to when his uncles played for South Melbourne and moved with the franchise to Sydney in 1982.
Between the late 1970s and early ’90s, the Morwood brothers, Tony, Paul and Shane, played over 300 games for the Swans, plus another 200 or so for Collingwood and St Kilda as well.
Jenkins could have had his pick of teams, but went with the Swans.
“I’ve been a huge Swans fan my whole life,” he says. “I went up and filmed some stuff with Isaac Heeney and (Nick) Blakey the other day, which was awesome.
“It was cool for me to just talk with the boys and they took me through the SCG.
“But I think it was pretty cool for them too, to meet someone in the UFC, because it’s so different to what they do.”
Born and raised in Bacchus Marsh, 50km northwest of Melbourne, Jenkins played rugby union before deciding to focus on MMA and is now 12-2 as a professional.
Over the past 18 months, he has formed a friendship with Collingwood superstar Jordan De Goey.
The pair began training together when De Goey was going through some off-field issues stemming from his 2021 arrest in New York, and Jenkins even joked earlier this year that the Pies forward could make the switch to boxing if he wanted to.
Not that he ever would.
“We had dinner on Saturday night and we were laughing about that, actually,” Jenkins says. “Why would he want to box? He’s got stacks of cash, he’s good looking. He doesn’t need to box.”
Jenkins was most recently in the Octagon in June, when he scored a split decision win over Jammall Emmers in Jacksonville.
On Sunday, he’ll be looking for his third consecutive win in the UFC when fights the ultra-aggressive Chepe Mariscal (14-6-1) in what promises to be an entertaining bout on the UFC 293 prelims.
A day earlier, the horseracing fanatic hopes to relax while watching a few races on TV, ideally while basking in a Swans win over Carlton on Friday.
First introduced to racing by grandmother, Jenkins even offers a tip for the weekend.
“We’ve got the Group Two Feehan Stakes and Mick Price’s big brute of a horse, Globe, is going around,” he says. “It could be an absolute superstar.
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“The winner of the Feehan Stakes goes straight to the Cox Plate, and they’re both at Moonee Valley. These big horses don’t do too well with the track there, so it’s going to be a good test.
“If he goes out and absolutely brains them, he’ll probably start favourite for the Cox Plate.
“It’s a sit and watch one. I’ll have a few bets, but the punt isn’t huge for me. I just like the sport, so I’m happy to sit and watch.”
Originally published as UFC 293: The family connection behind Jack Jenkins’ AFL obsession
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