Justin Gaethje is ready to play spoiler in one of the most anticipated matchups in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
The fourth-ranked lightweight fighter will take the biggest test of his career next month as he is scheduled to meet Tony Ferguson in the main event of UFC 249 for the interim lightweight championship.
It wasn’t a smooth journey for ‘The Highlight’ in getting his first crack at a UFC gold as the interim title fight has been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Nevada-based promotion, though, was very eager to return to normal schedule and has decided to give the UFC 249 a second life, re-booking the fight card for May 9th in Jacksonville, Florida.
“Emotionally, as a fighter, it’s very hard to cope with because it’s hard to turn it on and it’s hard to turn it off. So I was really caught in a weird predicament. I’m glad it was only three or four days after they canceled it where the re-announced it.” Gaethje said in a recent interview with ESPN.
Dana White: #UFC to return May 9, Tony Ferguson vs. Justin Gaethje, other title fights on tap for blockbuster targeted lineup https://t.co/9064pD027E
— MMA Junkie (@MMAjunkie) April 14, 2020
Upset
While it was a sigh of relief for Gaethje that the interim title bout remained intact, he was upset the UFC announced the re-booking without telling him.
“Same way I found out it was off: on the internet,” he shared.
“I saw that Dana had said that he was having this card May 9th and that I was the main event and I was like, ‘What the hell?!’”
“To be honest, I was a little bit upset because I’ve always told them I don’t want to fight on short training camps and I don’t blame them, but they had the assumption that because I was going to fight on April 18th I would do it on May 9th, but those are totally different circumstances for me.”
“So I really wasn’t happy about it, but you go back to the drawing board and risk versus reward, for a world title you can fight on a day’s notice.”
Justin Gaethje describes how he's preparing to fight Tony Ferguson. VIDEO: https://t.co/4GllyNIJXL pic.twitter.com/waExoxlu9y
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) April 23, 2020
Screw Up
The former World Series of Fighting champion will come into UFC 249 as the underdog but he believes beating Ferguson is not an impossible task.
If he pulls off an upset, the Ferguson-Khabib dream matchup will not happen later this year as he will take on the Russian for a unification bout.
“When they wrap that belt around me, it won’t be a destination, it will be a map, a map to the top.”
“That’s how I’m looking at it. It will be nice to have a belt wrapped around you but for me it won’t be the same. It will never mean that I’m a world champion in the UFC. But yes, absolutely, when I beat Tony, I’m fighting Khabib next.
“As a fan, I want to see that fight just as much as anybody.”
“But to put food on my table. . . I really don’t care about that. I will feel a little bad because I know how bad people want it but for me to act like it will bother me, that would be a lie.”
“I’m going to be very happy to royally screw that up.”
Justin Gaethje won't consider himself a true UFC champ if he wins at #UFC249 https://t.co/GKgtfeaf42
— bjpenndotcom (@bjpenndotcom) April 23, 2020
(Featured Image Source: Instagram/ UFC and YouTube/ MMA Junkie)