After roughly a four-year hiatus — due to some personal issues and the birth of his son — the 25-year-old Miltonian marked his return to mixed martial arts (MMA) with a national title victory earlier this month in Montreal.

Despite his lengthy layoff, the middleweight fighter was given a shot at champion Scott Arnold of Kingston by Ultimate Generation Combat (UGC) promoters.

“I’d dealt with them before the break, so they knew what I’m capable of,” said Jackson, who’s lived in town for almost two years now and has been training locally since February at Bronte Street’s Natural Born Fighters, under long-time instructor and soon-to-be father-in-law Carlos Godinho. “I was supposed to have a fight in June, but it got cancelled due to a weight issue of the other guy. When this title shot came up I jumped at it.”

The UGC’s latest tag line, Back in Business, was certainly a fitting one for the MMA returnee, who despite being the clear-cut underdog needed less than three minutes to dethrone the champ — weathering a number of ground-based shots early on before disposing of Arnold with a triangle (leg-lock) choke.

“It felt great like this. It was an awesome way to get back in the MMA mix.”

While his endurance wasn’t exactly put to the test in his much-anticipated comeback, Jackson’s versatility definitely was.

He held his own through a rather thunderous vertical-based exchange early on and absorbed some grappling blows before his big submission.

“Yeah he got in some good shots, but that was expected. If you go in thinking you’re not going to get hit, you’re in the wrong sport.”

Of course being able to weather punishment and switch things up during a fight has never been much of a problem for Jackson.

“Terry’s really versatile and knows how to adapt to different fighters and styles,” said Godinho, a multi-time Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu champion who’s trained the new UGC title holder at various clubs over the past five years. “We knew he wasn’t going to be able to overpower (Scott) Arnold, so Terry was patient and beat him technically.”

Added Jackson, “The way MMA has evolved, you really have to be well-rounded in there to succeed.”

Going back to his childhood in a rather rough part of Toronto, the six-foot-one-inch, 185- pounder has always been intrigued by combat sports. He studied a number of martial arts disciplines as a youth and at one time gave serious consideration to a future in boxing.

But when the MMA craze hit in the late ‘90s, Jackson was hooked.

“It’s (MMA) the ultimate, the cream of the crop if you’re into combat.”

Still unbeaten in the sport — with his fights pretty much all coming by submission — the young fighter says MMA has provided him with focus and discipline.

He’s even more complimentary when it comes to his long-time mentor.

“I’ve been with Carlos at three or four clubs now and it’s been great. He’s got so much expertise and has helped me out in every way possible.”

So what’s next for the Natural Born Fighters instructor and prize pupil?

“We’ve kind of been flying under the radar so far, with just a few students, but this (Jackson’s title) win could be the start of great things for us,” said Godinho.