Billy Quarantillo is the birthday boy this week. Not that he’s had a chance to celebrate yet. That will hopefully come at UFC 256, should the now 31-year old get past Gavin Tucker in a promising featherweight match-up.
Quarantillo (15-2) has been perfect through three UFC fights so far. Tucker is the second straight Canadian fighter he’s faced, after defeating Kyle Nelson by knockout back in September. That’s merely a coincidence, but facing Tucker this Saturday night is not. The pair were originally planned to meet just as the coronavirus pandemic turned the world on its head.
“We were supposed to fight in April. And that was right when COVID and the pandemic started. So we already did a couple weeks training camp, probably like a month training camp getting ready for Gavin. And we loved the match-up back then.”
Since their original booking, Quarantillo has fought twice, getting wins against Nelson and Spike Carlyle. The victories, added cage time, and experience, “I think it just adds a lot more stakes, to what can happen in this fight, the value of the fight. It’s on a big pay per view now, too. So I was excited then and I’m even more excited now.”
Getting the match with Tucker back, suggested Quarantillo, “took a lot of the nerves away. When I first get someone’s name, and you’re starting to game plan for them, you start getting those nerves and you start looking him up. But I feel like we already knew what Gavin brings to the table. He’s a vet, he does a lot of things well, but there’s definitely some holes in his game that I plan on exploiting.”
Quarantillo made his UFC debut back on December 7, 2019. To go 4-0 in the span of 12 months would be “a dream come true,” he said this week. A win over Gavin Tucker would have him looking to the rankings. “A top 15 or definitely a big name and a big card. I don’t want to overlook anyone, but that’s definitely what I’m looking forward to past this.”
Watch the full UFC 256 virtual media day pres scrum with Billy Quarantillo above. The event takes place this Saturday, December 12 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, NV.
