James Vick Wasn’t Talking Trash on Justin Gaethje, He Was Just Giving Him the Facts
James Vick isn't going to pretend that he's Conor McGregor whenever he has a microphone in front of his face.
While the former "Ultimate Fighter" contender certainly isn't afraid to speak his mind, Vick will be the first to admit that he does his best work inside the cage rather than trying to out work an opponent in a trash-talking battle.
That said, Vick says he received more than a few compliments for his "performance" at the UFC's 25th anniversary press conference recently where he came face to face with Gaethje for the first time.
Vick was more than ready for the verbal exchanges, but as he explains, nothing he was saying to Gaethje could really be classified as trash talk. Instead, Vick says he was just giving Gaethje a list of facts that he couldn't really dispute.
"I killed him. It was good exposure for me for sure," Vick told MMAWeekly about the press conference showdown with Gaethje. "Everything I said came from my heart. I believe everything I said. The dude is the Homer Simpson of MMA. He just takes beatings. I don't want to act like I'm the greatest trash talker in the world cause he's an easy target.
"I just think with him, the things I'm saying are true. All I did was throw up stats. You take 10 significant strikes per minute and that's 50 shots a round. Those aren't lies. Those are legit stats."
While fighters like McGregor have gotten into their opponents' heads with a vicious verbal assault before a fight, Vick isn't sure he had that same effect on Gaethje.
According to Vick, Gaethje was already having doubts about his skills and abilities after suffering back-to-back knockouts courtesy of Eddie Alvarez and Dustin Poirier.
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Now Vick plans on becoming the third person to hand Gaethje a knockout loss when they meet on Aug. 25 at UFC Fight Night in Lincoln, Neb.
"I don't know how much it threw doubt into his mind because I think he already had doubt in his mind," Vick said. "I think I'm just reassuring what he's already thinking, which is not a good thing for him.
"Whether he's confident or not confident, I think my skill set is going to win this fight."
