James Vick Doesn’t Think Justin Gaethje Is A World-Class Fighter

In an interview with MMA Fighting, James Vick spoke about his low opinion of Justin Gaethje, as he thinks the fighter has been exposed in the UFC as less than world-class. Here are highlights:

On fighting Gaethje: “I’m excited. I’m like a little kid, I’m getting this opportunity against a guy I really don’t care for. He’s a clown in my mind, and it’s a great opportunity for me. The moment they called me, I accepted the fight. I said yes, I’ll take it, 100 percent. And I feel blessed to be where I’m at. I feel like this is my destiny, to win this fight and go on to move to bigger things and become a world champion, and I feel like this is just all part of the process, the way it was supposed to happen.”

On not being impressed by Gaethje: “For him, to be where he’s at, I think he’s doing a good job, because honestly I don’t think he’s a world-class fighter. I don’t. I think the guy padded his record against B-level competition outside of the UFC, and now that he’s come over here, he’s been exposed. He’s been beat, he’s been knocked out. He has world-class heart, he’s a warrior, he’s not a punk — this dude is a warrior, I understand why he’s a fan favorite. I get why fans love him so much. I mean, I like watching him fight. The dude’s exciting. He’s a tough guy, but I have all those attributes too. If you think that I can’t bite down on my mouthpiece and throw leather, and sit there and tough it out and just win like that — I don’t have to fight like that, because I have a skill set. I think he lacks that. He has world-class heart, world-class grit in him, but he doesn’t have a world-class skill set, and I think he’s going to be exposed. I just don’t even think he’s a top-10 fighter in the UFC.”

On how the fight will go compared to other Gaethje fights: “First off, I feel like I’m going to hurt him faster than a lot of those guys did. I think I’m going to hurt him quicker. I’m taller, it’s going to be harder for him to get in on me, so when he comes in, he’s really going to get lit up. I think he caught them early. They didn’t move quick enough to get out of the way of some leg kicks. They didn’t check them. They should’ve just come out immediately and checked the first two of them, just stepped off. Instead, they tried to meet fire with fire a little too early, and then they were shook up a little bit from the low kicks, then from there they kind of just had to bite down. And they bit down on their mouthpieces, and they basically showed they have more will than him also. I mean, he’s a tough dude and has will too, but there’s plenty of us in the UFC who have that. They showed it as well.”