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Remembering Jordan Parsons (1990-2016)

Bellator featherweight up-and-comer Jordan Parsons was struck by vehicle while walking home on May 1 in Delray Beach, Fla., suffering injuries that would inevitably take his life.

The 25-year-old promising talent succumbed to his injuries and passed away on the morning of May 4 at the Delray Medical Center.

Parsons dedicated his life to martial arts as a teenager. At 17 years old, “Pretty Boy” accepted his first amateur fight.

“I started when I was in high school in March 2008, and about a month later I took my first amateur fight,” Parsons told MMAWeekly.com in an interview in 2015.

RELATED > Bellator Fighter Jordan Parsons, 25, Dies Following Hit-and-Run Incident

To fight, Parsons’ mother had to sign a permission slip. She did, and his MMA career was launched.

“I had to get three permission-slips signed by my mom to compete in three of my fights when I was an amateur,” he said.

Parsons’ mother played a pivotal role in his life. She made Jordan get a job during his high school years to instill work ethic.

“When I was in high school, I had to get a job. My mom kept telling me how I needed to prioritize McDonalds over going to the gym. I didn’t see it that way,” recalled Parsons.

Recognizing her son’s dedication to mixed martial arts, and his potential, his mother started to embrace Parsons’ MMA aspirations.

“Eventually, she started warming up to it,” he said. “It was just helping me with my regular life. I always loved to get into fight, and there’s a lot of bad ways to go about doing that. She liked the fact that I was in there doing it and staying out of trouble.”

Parsons made his professional debut in 2010 at the age of 19. In 2012, he won the CFA featherweight tournament, and his dream of becoming one of the best fighters in the world was taking shape.

“It just felt like all the hard work I was putting in was paying off. I believed that I could do it, but then I saw that I could do it, and that it was possible,” he said about the tournament win.

In 2015, Bellator MMA signed Parsons to a multi-fight deal. He had finally made it to a major fighting promotion.

“I’m thankful to be a part of it,” he told MMAWeekly at the time.

From competing as an amateur at 17 to fighting in Bellator, Parsons was part of it. He trained at Minnesota Martial Arts as an up-and-comer before uprooting from the Midwest to train at Alliance MMA in California. He had recently moved to Florida to train with The Blackzilians.

“No amount of money in the world could replace the experience that I got being in there that many times,” Parsons said. “I believe that I have so much more than I’ve ever shown in my fights, and I want everyone else to see how great I am.”

Parsons was a star in the making with a bright future before him. That was all cut short by a hit-and-run driver as he walked home on May 1. Sadly, we’ll never know how great he could have been.

At 25, Parsons tragically passed away. While his life was cut short, his story remains.

“You have to be willing to put yourself out there,” he said. “I want to be a role model for people and show people that if you want something you’ve just got to go for it.”

The vehicle and driver that struck Parsons have yet to be located. Anyone with information regarding the incident is asked to call the Delray Beach Police Department at (561) 243-7800.

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