With UFC back in town, all eyes were on Salt Lake City this weekend. Well, it was expected to be an action-packed night highlighted by the main event bout between Alex Pereira and Khalil Rountree Jr. for the light heavyweight title. Sure enough, Utah Jazz stars Jordan Clarkson and Lauri Markkanen saw this as the perfect bonding opportunity and shared the experience live at the Delta Center. But it was none of the winners, but Kevin Holland’s unfortunate TKO loss that caught the Jazz stars’ attention.

Making his way to the arena for UFC 307, Clarkson revealed his anticipation for the event, “Yeah, real excited man. Wanna see Alex go crazy. Big main event. Super excited though, it’s my first live action. Salt Lake City gonna turn out, it’s gonna be a great support so definitely here for the vibes.” Moreover, JC was accompanied to the event by his girlfriend Maggie Lindemann as the couple walked hand in hand while the Jazz guard talked about the event. And Clarkson even retweeted the video all hyped up, “letssss gooooooo!!!”

As it turns out, there were more Jazz stars in the arena as Clarkson was spotted sitting next to his teammates Lauri Markkanen and Patty Mills. While Lauri recently solidified his future in Utah by inking a five-year $238 million extension, Mills joined the team this summer on a one-year $3.3 million deal. As expected, the Jazz trio got their money’s worth at UFC 307 as Pereira retained his title with a fourth-round TKO victory over Rountree.

However, one bout specifically intrigued Clarkson, Kevin Holland vs. Roman Dolidze. While the middleweights started the fight strong, Holland unfortunately suffered a rib injury in the very first round and was unable to continue the fight. As a result, Dolidze was awarded a TKO victory. But Holland’s effort did earn Clarkson’s respect as he tweeted, “Got to see Holland fight again man! That was wild.” And he even sang praises of Pareira after his dominant victory, “Wow Alex Pereira! really him.” But now that JC finally fulfilled his wish of watching a UFC event live, it’s time for him to get back to work.

Jordan Clarkson claims he has nothing to prove as he heads into next season

With UFC 307 in the books, Clarkson will soon shift his focus back to the upcoming season. Well, he did miss a major chunk of last season due to multiple injuries and was focused on his recovery during the off-season, “I feel like this summer was a time for me to kind of like just slow down and get back to you know just being healthy and having fun with the game. That was it.” Averaging 17.1 points before he got injured, JC looked in great form all year. And he is looking forward to giving his best in whatever role he is put into next season.

“It’s not a proving thing anymore. I don’t have to prove anything to anybody. So, when I check in the game if its 10 to 20 minutes in the game, I might give you 15 and 20 points in those time.” He remarked on Media Day. Heading into his eleventh season, Clarkson has been highly consistent throughout his career and even bagged the Sixth Man of the Year trophy three years ago. And he believes he can be highly productive for the Jazz while also being a veteran leader for the young players on the squad, “My thing is just giving back to the game.”

With Jazz preparing for a rebuild and hoping to get the draft rights of Cooper Flagg next year, Clarkson could be the perfect veteran leader for the team. Do you agree?