When we last saw bantamweight Chris Gutierrez, he was on the wrong side of decision against Song Yadong back in December.
Gutierrez had been looking to bounce back against Javid Basharat, but after a delay and a change of opponents, he’s got a very different fight on his hand. He’ll be taking on the undefeated newcomer Quang Le this Saturday at UFC Vegas 95.
“It was a really long camp getting ready for a certain type of fighter, and then for that to be flipped completely 180, some things had to change, but not too much,” Gutierrez (20-5-2) told media outlets during this week’s UFC Vegas 95 media day. “I have to do my job still, and stick to the game plan, and the new wrinkles that I’ve been working on.”
Gutierrez admits there was like “a two day period” after Basharat dropped out where nothing was said regarding a replacement, and he wasn’t sure he had a fight. But with his manager in Abu Dhabi for the card there, it all came down to communication issues. During those two days, however, Gutierrez was taken aback by training while the fight was a question mark. “That was also the other part that was weird, like ‘man, I’ve still got to go through all this hell, and I don’t even know if it’s [the fight] for certain.”
With the fight pushed back and the opponent changed, Gutierrez is just happy to have a fight. “I was excited he stepped up, and at this point it doesn’t matter who it is.”
As to where things stand for Gutierrez, he later noted that “I’m still one of the top-ranked fighters in this division. My last fight didn’t go according to plan, but that’s okay. I took on the number seven-ranked guy when no one would answer the phone call, and I had just fought previous [before] that, so I was going into that fight camp already hurt. My name carries some weight to it, and I’m going to show that improvement on Saturday.”
Watch the full UFC Vegas 95 media day appearance by Chris Gutierrez above.
