A life-long dream can come true for North Idaho College alum Jamelle Jones this Tuesday night.

All it will take is an Ultimate effort inside the octagon.

Jones, who won a NJCAA title in 2011 at the Spokane Convention Center, will step into the cage against Mike Rodriguez at the Ultimate Fighter Gym in Las Vegas in the featured bout of Dana White’s Contender Series.

“My goal from the jump has been to make it to the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship),” Jones said. “That’s the pinnacle of the sport. I’m training my butt off, and doing 2 to 3 workouts a day right now. I’m just grinding in the gym right now.”

Jones — born in Atlantic City, N.J. — last fought for the CFFC Light Heavyweight title on May 20 in Philadelphia, and is 7-4 in his career.

“It was a great opportunity,” said Jones of the title fight, where he held a four-bout win streak before losing to Anton Berzin by TKO. “I fought in that guy’s back yard (Berzin’s from Philadelphia). And he was tough. He was on Ultimate Fighter, and so was I. He was just really good. It was literally the two best guys from the east coast. He definitely won the fight. I won the first round, but he definitely finished the fight.”

Rodriguez (7-2), has won five of his past six fights.

“What Dana White is doing is he’s looking for the best talent around the world,” Jones said. “And he’s picked the best fighters around. Just to be picked to be on this show, it’s a privilege.”

Austin Arnett, also fighting out of Idaho, lost to Brandon Davis in Week 4 of the series. Tuesday’s fight is available to stream on the UFC Fight Pass app.

“There’s five fights an episode,” Jones said. “Each fighter is paid $5,000, with a $5,000 bonus to whoever wins.”

At the end of the night, White, president of the UFC, awards a contract to a worthy fighter for their performance.

“It’s just a great opportunity for everyone on the show,” Jones said.

When he’s not busy training for his career in MMA, Jones is a salesman for Verizon, working at the newest location on Fourth and Appleway.

“I love working at Verizon,” Jones said. “I was one of the first people hired for this location. I love it. It’s great customer service. I just love talking to people, it’s part of my personality.”

Jones won his NJCAA title with a pin of Walker Clarke of Labette in 3 minutes, 42 seconds.

“I’ve grown so much as an athlete, as well as wisdom-wise,” Jones said. “I’ve been able to give back to the community. I’ve helped at NIC for two years after winning my title and been able to help little kids with their wrestling. I’m still putting in the work because I know what it takes to be a national champion, as well as a world champion. Basically, I just picked up where I left off and working on capturing these ‘W’s’.”

Jones credits his work with NIC coach Pat Whitcomb and assistant coach Keri Stanley for not only his success, but that of Kelvin Gastelum, who won the Ultimate Fighter in 2013.

“What NIC taught me, it really brought a toughness to me,” Jones said. “On the east coast, I was already a technician, and I could always coast in matches. When I came here, I was kind of a wussy. Pat installed how to be tough and put a mountain man kind of wrestling into me. And he put it in Kelvin too. Some of the things that Kelvin struggles with now are the same things he did when he was at NIC. He’s a phenomenal athlete, and doing fantastic in the UFC. If you can succeed at NIC, and go capture national titles there, then the sky’s the limit really. You can basically do anything you want to do in life.”

With a strong showing in Tuesday’s bout, Jones will be well on his way to achieving that.”