‘I’m Scared S—tless!’

Chris Gutierrez has the biggest fight of his career at UFC Vegas 83 this weekend (Sat., Dec. 9, 2023).

The Factory X product and rising Bantamweight contender got off to a hot stretch of wins after falling short in his UFC debut opposite Raoni Barcelos in November 2018. Gutierrez (20-5-2 overall) went unbeaten in nine fights (8-0-1) before he had his momentum halted by Pedro Munhoz via unanimous decision this past April 2023.

Gutierrez, 32, rebounded with a strong performance, outpointing Alatengheili en route to a unanimous decision in October 2023. Tasked with Song Yadong in UFC Vegas 83’s main event, the bout will be Gutierrez’s first atop a UFC card and he’s admittedly feeling the emotions of the spot.

“Who says I’m not scared? Man, that’s the biggest bulls—t, people, maybe I can’t speak for everybody, but I’m scared s—tless,” Gutierrez said at UFC Vegas 83 media day. “That’s just the reality, right? You are putting yourself in a very vulnerable position. You are going out there to fight half-naked in front of millions of people. Unfortunately, we live in a world where people are waiting for your downfall, and everyone has an opinion of you. So, we are putting ourselves in a very vulnerable position. So to say you are not afraid is I think you trying to mask something. Accept it.

“The difference is, I know who I am as a person, I know where I come from,” he continued. “I know the task at hand, and I know what I’m here to do. I know the goal that I’m after, where I want to be in life and this is just another opportunity to get there. It’s a tough task but it’s a tough one for him, too.”

On the other side of the equation, UFC Vegas 83 will be Song’s third consecutive headliner. The Chinese superstar is 1-1 in those previous two outings (20-7-1, 1 no contest overall) but enters the Gutierrez clash off of arguably his best career performance when he scored a fifth round technical knockout win against Ricky Simon at UFC Vegas 72 in April 2023 (watch highlights).

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