Las Vegas — Ahead of this weekend’s UFC 320, featherweight Josh Emmett was quick to admit that Youssef Zalal was not necessarily the name he’d been looking to fight.
Emmett (19-5), now 40, is looking to bounce back from a loss to Lerone Murphy, but confessed during Wednesday’s media day that “it’s not the name I wanted— I wanted a big name.”
Speaking with media outlets including Cageside Press, Emmett added that he was willing to move up to lightweight for the right fight. Or take the just get the night opponent at featherweight. “Obviously a big name at 45, but at the end of the day, here we are. It really doesn’t matter. I’ve put my sole focus, time, energy into this camp for Youssef Zalal.”
Zalal is one of those young, hungry up-and-comers at 29, and on an eight-fight unbeaten streak. Still, said Emmett, “he’s not going to show me anything I have not seen before. I just have to track him down, corral him. Cut off the cage, and stuff like that. He uses a lot of lateral movement.”
“I want to be exciting. I want to go out there, and put on a show for the fans,” he added. Emmett knows that’s what his bosses, Dana White and Hunter Campbell among them, want to see. It’s likely his path back to a shot at gold (Emmett came up short against Yair Rodriguez for an interim title in 2023). “It’s tough when I don’t have an opponent who will engage in that, get in the pocket and trade. I need to get myself in danger, but I don’t blame him, because people don’t want to do that.”
Watch the full UFC 320 media day appearance by Josh Emmett above.
