Jason Knight Says He’s His Own Man, Hopes For Fight of the Night at UFC Fight Night 101

Jason Knight spoke with MMAjunkie about his fight with Daniel Hooker at UFC Fight Night 101. Highlights are below:

On comparisons to other fighters: “I’m my own man. I’m not Nate Diaz or Nick Diaz. I’m not ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone. I’ve heard a few people say I’m a baby ‘Cowboy.’ I’m ‘Hick Diaz.’ I’m ‘if ‘Cowboy’ and the Diaz brothers had a baby, it’s going to be Jason Knight.’ But I’m Jason Knight. If you sit here and watch me long enough, you’re going to wind up forgetting about them boys. They’re going to be a thing of the past. It’s going to be Jason Knight, ‘The Kid,’ all the way, baby.”

On his trash talking: “I felt at home being able to talk crap like that because in the gym, it’s every day all day. That’s how I have my fun. That’s how I get through my day at the gym. Training as much as us fighters do, sometimes it gets old. I go up there and treat it like work. You work at the shipyard, you build houses, whatever – you talk (expletive) to get through the day. It’s the same thing I always do in the gym, and in that last fight, it worked for me. I got inside his head. I don’t see why I wouldn’t (do it again). It might not be every fight, but at the right moment, at the right fight, you best believe I’m going to talk (expletive). I’m going to get inside his head. I’m going to tell him, ‘You hit like a (expletive).’ (I’ll) ask him, ‘Is that all you got?’ Stuff like that. It’s going to happen.”

On Hooker: “I think he’s way too cocky. He’s sitting here. I’ve seen a couple of videos, and he thinks he’s just going to walk through me. He thinks he’s going to have an easy fight. He’s going to touch me. He’s not going to get touched. He’s going to stop every takedown. Man, I’ll put it like this: If he doesn’t get taken down, it’s because I don’t try to take him down. If he thinks he’s not going to get touched, I can promise he’s got another thing coming because I’m going to touch him. He thinks he’s going to go out there and tap me and run away, tap me and run away, but it’s tough to run away from a man who is going to be right in your face. Run from me if you want to. It’s just going to make you look worse on the scorecards, buddy. It’s going to make me look like the man controlling the ring. Run all night. That’s going to help me win.”

On the fight: “I could see it being a ‘Fight of the Night’ war because Dan Hooker, I’ll give him all the credit in the world, the man’s got heart, he’s got a touch chin, he’s tough as nails, and he comes to fight. I’m not going to sit here and say it’s going to be an easy night for me because I’m smarter than that. I’m not going to underestimate anybody. I made that mistake in the past, and I got my first loss.”