Billy Goff came out of the gate hard with the UFC. After winning his Contender Series fight with a quick, first round TKO, he picked up another win with his hands. In his debut fight he picked up a second first round finish, this time of hot prospect Yusaku Kinoshita.
However, in his sophomore effort, he would drop a close decision to Trey Waters. Although he started to feel the itch to get back in there and return to his winning ways, he’s been on the shelf for over a year. That isn’t due to lack of trying on his side though.
“I’ve been trying to get a fight for a while now. I’ve been asking for a fight since August. I had two booked prior that people pulled out of. So it’s been a long camp, basically,” Goff explained. “It’s given me a lot of time to stay disciplined and stay focused while not necessarily having a direct goal in sight.”
So while it’s been hard not getting to show off his skills in the cage, Goff is thankful to be right where he wants to in life.
“It’s frustrating to not have the fight because then the work, like all the work that you put in is kind of, it’s not lost, but it’s, you don’t get what you want out of it,” he said. “But, I mean, I’m living the life that I want to live. So there’s frustrations, but it’s also, I’m doing what I want to do.”
When the call did come to fight, it was for another talented Asian prospect in Seokhyeon Ko. However, with just over a week left prior to the fight, Goff got a switch in opponent.
“Jason [House] texted me right before practice on Friday night and told me that Ko was out and said, we could take Rameez,” Goff said. “We said, yes, pretty much right away. And so then I got the emails with the contract and everything later. So it was a Friday night that I knew. So pretty short notice.”
Although it was a big change in terms of the style of the fighters, Goff knows that the preparation of the last year was enough to have him ready for anyone.
“They are different stylistically. I mean, one’s a Southpaw, one’s a righty. So there’s that big change, but I prepare to fight,” he said. “I’m just as excited. I feel just as prepared. It doesn’t matter who shows up, they’re stepping in my cage and they’re coming to fight me.”
You can catch his new fight with Ramiz Brahimaj as part of the UFC Vegas 107 main card. It airs this Saturday at 6:30pm EST on ESPN+.
You can also catch the entire audio of this interview on the latest edition of the Top Turtle MMA Podcast. The interview starts at 18:30.
