Las Vegas, NV — Featherweight Jamall Emmers was one of a small army of fighters to appear on Dana White’s Contender Series in its second season. The show has ushered many a fighter into the UFC — but on June 26, 2018 against Julian Erosa, it just wasn’t his night.
Instead, it would be another four bouts, all wins, before Emers was scheduled for his octagon debut. That comes this weekend, at UFC 248 in Las Vegas.
“I mean it was very frustrating you know, but it’s the fight game, anything can happen,” Emmers told Cageside Press, reflecting on his Contender Series run. “Shout out to Julian, he did his part so I’m not upset about that.”
Now, however, it’s time to look ahead. UFC 248 goes down in just a few days. And Emmers is clearly pumped up to make the walk. “Finally getting my shot, I feel amazing. I still think that I’m dreaming some days, you know?” Emmers is also getting accustomed to the larger media presence that a UFC Fight Week brings. “Got to do all of my media stuff yesterday, and look at my fight shorts. And I’m just like ‘oh man my name is on some shorts, my name is on a jersey, so it feels amazing.'”
Emmers is once again fighting in Vegas, as he did on the Contender Series. He returned to the Nevada city for FFC 38, after his Contender Series outing. “I mean this is, what my third time fighting in Vegas? So I’m a little more comfortable than my first time that for sure.”
It is the fight capital of the world, after all. Where better to make your UFC debut?
With Emmers holding notable wins over Cory Sandhagen and Alexander Hernandez, you’d expect that it might be a bit of an irritation to see those names making it to the UFC prior to Emmers himself. However, that’s just not the case.
Asked about Hernandez, who Emmers beat much earlier on in his career, he explained that it didn’t add any frustration. “I was happy for him that he got signed [to the UFC]. He’s a great fighter,” said Emmers.
“Pretty Boy,” who is fighting out of Redlands, California, is facing Giga Chikadze this weekend. The former Glory kickboxer picked up a win over Brandon Davis in his debut — but he didn’t exactly turn heads.
“I mean, who knows, maybe he was just flat that night, sometimes that happens,” Emmers observed. “It was his debut so he was probably a little more nervous than normal, so he just did what he could do to get the job done.”
Chikadze is stepping in on short notice at UFC 248 this weekend. “I was supposed to fight a Russian guy originally, that’s who I was supposed to fight. Then he got hurt, and Giga got put in his position, so that’s how that happened. Giga wasn’t even my original opponent.”
Emmer’s original opponent, Movsar Evloev, was forced out due to a motorcycle accident. Of course, Emmers himself replaced Douglas Silva de Andrade, after the Brazilian was forced out of the fight back in February.
However, short notice or not, Emmers is focused on what he can control. Including his weight. “I feel good, I’ve done everything right. My nutrition was right, the weight is just coming off so I don’t think it’s going to be a bad weight cut.”
It’s been a long journey to this point. From watching old Pride videos to the UFC. As Emmers later recalled, “I was a fan at first of course. Me and my brother and my dad always on the weekends, we would go to Block Buster and rent old Pride videos, old UFC videos and that’s how I got introduced to the sport.”
This weekend, Emmers will get a chance to introduce himself to UFC fans. And if all goes well, he could be part of highlight videos himself one day.
