Newark, NJ — A bit of a surprising main-card match-up at UFC 288 sees Charles Jourdain take on Kron Gracie in a featherweight scrap.
Gracie hasn’t competed since 2019, when he suffered the first loss of his pro career against Cub Swanson. It wasn’t just fans who were surprised to see Jourdain draw Gracie this Saturday however — Jourdain himself was at least a little surprised.
“Yeah I was surprised, I thought he was retired,” Jourdain (13-6-1) said during Wednesday’s UFC 288 media day, speaking to media outlets including Cageside Press. “But at some point we were supposed to fight. When I won in Korea against [Doo-Ho] Choi, I was pushing for the fight against Cub Swanson, and they’d just had a very good war and maybe they wanted to build up a fight with me and Kron. Then I would fight Cub afterwards.”
“Yeah, it was something that was meant to be. When they called, I was not that much surprised, it was just the fact that he’s been out for a while.”
Jourdain believes Gracie has been focused on his academy more than fighting during his time off, but either way, “I control what I can control,” the Canadian featherweight added. He’s not overly concerned about ring rust, either.
“I think rust is something that accumulates when you don’t have that much competitive experience, and this guy’s been on the mats since he was six years old. I think at two-years old Rickson put a Gi on him,” said Jourdain. “This guy knows competition, I don’t think he’s going to have those jitters and those what-if stress factors or whatever. I think he’s a born fighter, and we’re going to see a very good version of Kron Gracie.”
“Maybe age is going to be a factor, maybe the time off will be a factor, I don’t mind. I’m preparing for the best version of Kron we’ve ever seen.”
Watch the full UFC 288 media day appearance by Charles Jourdain above.
