Justin Gaethje is stepping into the Octagon with Dustin Poirier for a second time at UFC 291 on Saturday.
In their first outing, they went nearly four full rounds before Poirier pulled out the finish.
Even though this is a bit of a repeat for Gaethje, it’s exactly that which is keeping him going this fight week.
“I’ve accepted that this is a 50/50 fight in my mind,” Gaethje said at UFC 291 media day. “With the chance at retribution, it’s been driving me every day to work harder. … I think I have to be more technical no matter what. Obviously, I’m willing to fight fire with fire. That’s what we do in this game. But I’m going to try to be as methodical as possible and make no mistakes. At this level, it’s mistakes. Take advantage of their mistakes and make no mistakes.”
As if revenge wasn’t sweet enough, with a win, he might get a chance to fight for the undisputed title, something he hasn’t achieved in his long career yet.
“I think this is No. 2 vs. No. 3, (and) No. 1 is fighting the champion in October, then we’re going to fight the winner of that, the winner of this fight,” Gaethje said. “The aspirations are the championship belt. I think this catapults me right to that. I won’t be looking to defend that. If I have the choice, it’s going to be going for that championship belt.”
The BMF title will be on the line on Saturday at UFC 291.
“I think this fight gives you that feel without anything on the line,” Gaethje said. “For the legacy, it’s huge. First it’s championship belts, second is legacy. Third might be money, but those first two things are very important. We’re all trying to create a legacy that will live well past our time. That’s been my goal since Day 1.”
https://www.mmaweekly.com/ufcnews/justin-gaethje-fueled-retribution-ufc-291