DJ Jackson, an 8-time Jiu Jitsu World Champion, has allegedly stolen over 500,000 THB (over $13,000 USD) from multiple individuals who trusted him as a friend and mentor.

Bjjee was contacted by Bjj black belt Campbell Symes, bjj instructor at Southside MMA in Phuket, Thailand and he explained what happened.

After the allgations were made, DJ Jackson contacted BJJEE to offer his side of the story and to clear his name.

DJ wrote:

“I want to respond by saying the allegations made against me are 100% false.
A year and a half ago I moved my family and myself to Phuket Thailand to take a job as the Head MMA coach of Southside MMA Thailand. I had to make the move after a second Gym in Thailand promised to pay me a livable wage and supply me with a work permit but due to the Thailand post covid economy could not. My son had just celebrated his first Birthday and I couldn’t bring myself to leave him in Thailand so instead of moving back to America I believed the Owners and Management of Southside MMA when during our contract negotiations they told me I would make a percentage from students who attended my classes, Receive a work permit, receive a bigger share of Private lessons, and receive 5% of southside MMA when we reached set goals competitively. They said we couldn’t sign a contract now because they had to wait for spot to open up in their company for a work visa.

Southside did not honor any of these promises, most importantly my Work Visa. Work Visas are Mandatory for Employees in Thailand. It provides health insurance, it allows you to travel freely and gives extended rights to the holder. Without it I had to take 17 hour Van rides to the Border to get extensions to stay in the country because when I would fly into the country the border officials would demand a bribe to let me enter into the country due to how many stamps i had in my passport from doing border runs.

I had a meeting with the manager of the gym who informed me we can bypass the work visa if I applied for a marriage visa. I pled to get the work visa because it comes with health insurance but I was told there is no way due to the gyms taxes, as the two work visas the gym could afford where already assigned to two other coaches. They told me I had to get a marriage visa which required the person applying to have 400k Thai baht in their account. I told the gym manager there was no way I can have that amount in my bank account and when I did Mac was there and offered to front the money for the visa. I applied for the marriage visa and was declined so I sent Mac his money back and continued to pressure management for a work visa.

2 months pass and on my scheduled border run I was forced to sign a document stating that I would not be able to do any more border crossings this year. I told management and they told me the marriage visa was the only option for me. The gym refused to pay the government fees and taxes associated with a work visa. The only way I could stay in the country with my wife, son, and stepson was to apply for another marriage visa. Southside again refused to put the money up for my work or marriage visa and when they refused Mac was there to offer his money again, I declined because it is the gyms responsibility to handle my visa, and Mac would have needed his money back before my visa application would be finished. Later Mac sent the money to my Thai account and told me he and the gym would “figure it out” if he needed the money before my visa appointment.

A month into the process I Dislocated my shoulder, I went to the hospital but I couldn’t afford an MRI without health insurance, the doctor was able to put it back from the X ray but I was unable to train and teach for nearly 3 months, and southside did not cover any hospital bills that I already had occurred as well as any to help rehabilitate myself.

Dealing with a Dislocated shoulder, while being paid 40k Baht (1,000 USD) per month while supporting a family of four, without the gym standing behind their promises, to supply me with a work visa so I would have insurance, and the percentage of money from the students who came to train with me put me in an impossible situation for me to navigate. Thailand’s minimum wage for a foreigner is 50K baht per month. I agreed to take less because the gym was just opening and they assured me I would receive these bonuses to make my wage livable. The Bribes that I had to pay to re-enter the country also made it extremely difficult to teach seminars to supplement my income as I normally do, never knowing if the immigration official will stop me from entering and being able to see my family.

When I first arrived in Thailand I was making 100k (2,700 USD) a month. After covid my Future Wife got Pregnant and all the gyms shut down, but I was able to wait covid out there knowing things would go back to normal eventually. The plan was to move back to America with my wife and Son but the visa process for her is impossibly difficult. My wife did not want to let my son go back to America So I stayed in Thailand. I tried to grind it out until things went back to normal but that never happened and living in a foreign country being and first time father was a big adjustment to every part of my life. I would have come back to America much sooner but I felt i Could not leave without my Wife and Son, but because she can not get a visa she allowed me to bring him to my family while we work on her visa.

While I was home I was offered a Job I could not refuse. The opportunity to make decent money and get family healthcare with resources to bring my Wife to America. Throughout the visa process I constantly asked for a work Visa but instead I was left with the choice to leave my family, or hope that the gym would give me the things we negotiated.

Alot of other things where said by my old team mate Cambell Symes but absolutely none of them are true. While i was teaching at Fairtex a friend of a friend asked me to help him get a student visa in Thailand. When he arrived and the gym owner found out I took my friend to another visa company and didn’t use fairtex he was livid. When I left because they would not pay me my full wage they made an Instagram post accusing me of something that was untrue instead of contacting the authorities because I did nothing wrong.

I was never convicted or tried for sexual assault, i was 19 going to a college in Iowa and I met a 17 year old girl in the local college bar. I didn’t know her age until much later but i assumed she was over 18 since almost everyone in the bar was from the college or over 21yr old residents of the city. We had consensual sex in my friends truck and went back into the bar to drink more. I was falsely accused and the detectives took everything she said as truth because i was not from there. Once i got a lawyer the charges where dropped from the most severe charges possible to the least charge possible. It would have been impossible to get a jury of my peers in Iowa so when the judge declined our motion to move the venue we accepted the deal they offered which was a misdemeanor assault. I did not assualt anyone but being 19 and faced with going to trial for a Felony or a deferred adjudication for a misdemeanor I chose the latter.

The last student he brought up handed me 100k baht after his first trip in Thailand as he didn’t have a bank account or know anyone outside of myself to hold it for him. He was never pressured and he wasn’t loaning me any money. I paid him the entire sum back, part i paid for the down payment on his apartment in phuket his motorbike and gave him the rest in cash. I only helped because i had a bank account and he didn’t.

This entire thing could have been settled with a phone call but Campbell would prefer to attack here instead. I have been reaching out to Mac since I have seen the initital post. when he responds we will settle this matter. But this was and is an issue between Mac, myself and Southside. I didn’t steal anyones money, and the money that was lent will be paid back in full.

For the last two and half-years I have endured more struggles and hardship than i ever have in my life, moving from job to job in a foreign country because employers promise a work permit and never fulfill their end of the agreement. Making less than minimum wage being the sole earner in a house of four. I should have come back to America a long time ago but we didn’t want to separate our family. I trusted the owners of the gym to supply me with everything i needed to legally work and travel through southeast asia but instead of providing me a work visa we are in the situation we are in now.”

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