James Vick did not mince words when it came to UFC Lincoln opponent Justin Gaethje questioning his heart ahead of their main event tilt on Saturday night.
Lincoln, NB — James Vick is the other half of a main event grudge match with lightweight standout Justin Gaethje on Saturday night at UFC Lincoln. And while Gaethje has been the talk of the UFC for the past year, Vick has put together a four-fight win streak starting in 2017 that he carries into Lincoln on Sunday. 13-1 overall, 9-1 in the UFC, yet Vick hasn’t received nearly the same attention as Gaethje, who has a losing record of 1-2 in the company.
Vick discussed Gaethje underestimating him, and the tedious cut down to 155lbs, at Thursday’s UFC Lincoln media day, where Cageside Press was in attendance.
“It sucks, it’s never good, but it’s not any worse or better than usual,” Vick said of his cut down to lightweight this time around. “It’s basically the same as always.”
“I’ve only got like five and a half pounds left, so I’ll do like three more tonight, then maybe two, two and a half in the morning,” he added. Asked if the grueling cut makes him think of moving up a weight class, Vick admitted that “you always think that, then they write that check and you think ‘okay, I can do this again.'”
“Name one fight I’ve given up in. He’s delusional. Everybody in the top echelon of the UFC has heart.”
Vick’s a tall, lanky fighter for lightweight, towering over the rest of the division at 6 ft 3. Yet he doesn’t feel it’s his body that makes the weight cut hard. “Honestly a lot of my stuff comes from my diet,” he told reporters. “I have a bad diet, I’m not even going to lie. I’m not quite as big as people think I am. I’m very tall, but my bone structure is very small. I eat a lot of sugar, man, I’m a sugar addict, literally. It’s a problem. If I cut down on that, I’d probably walk around a good 10, 15lbs lighter than what I actually do.”
Asked if a 165 would entice him, Vick ansered “for sure. For sure.” That said, changing weight classes now would scuttle the work he’s already put in. “My goal’s to become a world champion, defend it a couple of times, then move up,” Vick explained. “But right now I’d have to start all over if I did that. If I move up right now, I’d have to start back at ground zero.”
The most animated the fighter became was when asked about opponent Justin Gaethje’s comments leading into fight week that he lacks heart, and runs in fights. “Name one fight that I’ve given up in. Even the fight that I lost, I went out like a f*cking warrior,” Vick exclaimed. “I got knocked the f*ck out, but I didn’t give up and I didn’t quit. My body wouldn’t function any more but I f*cking kept fighting. Name one fight I’ve given up in. He’s delusional. Everybody in the top echelon of the UFC has heart. All of us have heart, why do you think we’re here?”
Vick continued to question Gaethje’s comments. “He’s making a serious mistake if he believes that,” he said. “He’s also making a serous mistake if he thinks I’m not ready for that war. He thinks that I believe that I can avoid that war. I know I might not be able to avoid it. I could, I could go in there and knock him out quick, and catch him quick. But I might not and I’m fully aware and mentally prepared for all of that.”
“He’s an idiot,” Vick finished. “I don’t really care to be honest with you.” Asked about his comparison of Gaethje to Homer Simpson (a reference to Gaethje’s tendency to take damage), Vick stated he was “just being honest. The guy fights like that.”
UFC Lincoln (UFC Fight Night 135) takes place Saturday, August 25 at the Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, NB. The main card airs on Fox Sports 1 (TSN 5 in Canada).
