Justin Gaethje previews his UFC 291 Rematch with Dustin Poirier
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00:00 (heart beating)
00:02 - Justin, I know there's always that kind of excitement
00:06 level before a fight, but a fight like this
00:08 with a guy that you've been in there with
00:09 that you know is gonna put you through those car crashes
00:11 that you're used to, what's the feeling like ahead of that?
00:15 - Yeah, I feel good, man.
00:16 It's always nice to be back in the main event
00:18 under the spotlight.
00:19 You know, I missed it, so I'm excited to be back here
00:24 and excited to perform again.
00:26 It's what I love to do.
00:27 - Is there any different mindset?
00:28 'Cause I'm sure there's certain matchups that you go,
00:30 I bet I could go dominate that guy.
00:32 I mean, this doesn't look like a fight
00:33 where either guy's gonna be able to dominate, right?
00:35 Like it's gonna be a war
00:36 and that's what everybody's excited about.
00:37 Is that a different feel?
00:38 - I mean, every fight you prepare for is,
00:41 the reason why we're such big fans of this sport
00:43 is 'cause it's so, anything, anytime.
00:46 You know, any shot, one shot, it's all it takes.
00:48 And yeah, this guy is dangerous, you know?
00:49 And you know, usually, you know, I've accepted
00:54 that this is a 50/50 fight in my mind.
00:56 And with the, you know, with the chance at retribution,
01:01 it's been driving me every day to work harder.
01:03 - The BMF title, you know, kind of become a love thing.
01:08 It's fun.
01:09 Does it feel like,
01:10 'cause you've been in championship matchups,
01:11 I mean, does it have the same feel
01:12 as a true championship matchup
01:14 or is it just kind of a fun aspect of the fight?
01:16 - I mean, I think this fight gives you that feel
01:18 without anything on the line.
01:20 But yeah, I mean, for the legacy, it's huge.
01:22 You know, we, first is championship belts
01:25 and second is legacy.
01:26 That's why we fight.
01:27 Third might be money,
01:28 but those first two things are very important.
01:31 And you know, we're all trying to create a legacy
01:33 that's gonna live on well past our time.
01:35 And that's been my goal from day one.
01:37 - I think a lot of people look at it as a 50/50 fight,
01:39 the same way you do.
01:40 Lots being made about the elevation,
01:42 the fact that you train in elevation, live in elevation.
01:44 Do you feel that that matters when you get in there?
01:46 - I think it's gonna help with the confidence a little bit,
01:48 but at the end of the day, you know, tired is tired
01:50 and it's gonna suck.
01:51 And we've both been preparing mentally
01:54 to push through that.
01:55 And that's part of the game.
01:58 - Last thing for me, I mean,
01:59 everybody's looking forward to this fight.
02:01 You know, every time you get in there,
02:02 it could be a fight of the year.
02:03 Are you looking at this also as a number one contender fight?
02:05 We know we've got a championship matchup in a few months.
02:07 I mean, are you thinking about that?
02:09 - Yeah, absolutely.
02:10 I think this is number two versus number three.
02:11 I mean, number one's fighting the champion in October.
02:14 And then, you know, we're gonna fight the winner of that,
02:16 the winner of this fight.
02:17 - Justin, earlier this week, Dustin said,
02:20 "If this fight goes 25 minutes,
02:22 you'll both be talking about it in hospital
02:24 because that's where you'll be."
02:25 Do you sort of agree with that assessment?
02:27 - Yeah, probably.
02:28 I mean, we both created a lot of damage.
02:32 And 25 minutes is a long time to create that damage.
02:35 So, I mean, that's a pretty fair assessment, I would say.
02:38 - For people who don't understand the elevation,
02:41 on UFC Embedded, it looked like Dustin only just got here.
02:43 He didn't come here early to acclimatize.
02:45 What sort of difference does it make
02:46 training at elevation for your fight performance?
02:49 - I think, you know, confidence.
02:50 Confidence is huge.
02:51 And, you know, it's just gonna give me that confidence.
02:54 I've been pushing myself, you know, extremely hard
02:57 at altitude, higher altitudes than this.
02:59 But tired is tired, and we're gonna get really tired.
03:03 - A lot of people talk, you included,
03:05 talk about your transition from crazy brawler
03:07 to more technical striker.
03:09 Does any part of you wonder, like,
03:11 if me and Dustin go in there and it goes crazy,
03:13 that I'll have to just revert back to that crazy brawler,
03:15 and I still have that in me?
03:17 Or do you think, no,
03:17 I have to be more technical to find success?
03:20 - Yeah, I think I have to be more technical,
03:22 no matter what.
03:23 Obviously, I'm willing to, you know,
03:25 fight fire with fire.
03:26 That's what we do in this game.
03:27 But, you know, I'm, yeah,
03:32 I'm gonna try to be as methodical as possible
03:34 and make no mistakes.
03:35 At this level, it's mistakes.
03:37 Take advantage of their mistakes and make no mistakes.
03:39 - In terms of the BMF title, you know,
03:41 you two are fighting for the belt,
03:43 but is there anyone else in the division that you think,
03:44 hey, that guy, he's a BMF,
03:46 and I could see myself maybe defending this title
03:48 against him one day?
03:49 - Oh, shit, I'm not really thinking
03:52 about anybody else right now.
03:54 - Just kind of going off of that,
03:57 do you envision that if you do win,
03:59 that you would defend this belt?
04:00 Because I know Jorge never really defended it.
04:02 He said that was one of one.
04:04 - Yeah, I think the aspirations
04:06 are the championship belt.
04:08 I think this catapults us right to that, me to that.
04:11 And so, you know, I won't be looking to defend that.
04:13 If I have a choice, it's gonna be going
04:15 for the championship belt.
04:17 - And correct me if I'm wrong,
04:18 I think this is your first rematch
04:19 since the Luis Palomino fight, the second one.
04:22 In terms of preparation at camp,
04:24 does anything change when you're preparing
04:26 for a rematch as opposed to a fresh face?
04:28 - No, I wouldn't say so.
04:29 I think, you know, especially with the five years in between
04:32 we're both completely different people, different fighters.
04:35 And, you know, with age comes wisdom.
04:37 I've obviously grown, he's grown.
04:40 And, you know, there's, you know,
04:45 I remember he has a really nice left hand.
04:47 It's a beautiful left hand, you know,
04:49 so we've been working on that.
04:51 - And given how after your first fight,
04:53 like he had to do his media scrum sitting down
04:56 because you beat him up,
04:57 you had obviously a lot of damage too.
04:59 When you went to your family and you were like,
05:01 "I'm fighting Dustin Poirier again."
05:02 Were they just like, remember,
05:04 they remember what happened last time after the fight?
05:07 Did they ever, was there any--
05:07 - Yeah, well my family is extremely competitive.
05:10 If we go bowling, we have to take different vehicles
05:12 'cause somebody will leave somebody.
05:14 So they're as excited as I am
05:16 for a chance to get that fight back.
05:19 - Then last one for me,
05:20 might be a little weird question,
05:21 but if a little kid comes up to you
05:23 and asks what the BMF title stands for,
05:26 do you say it's a bad motherfucker belt
05:28 or do you have to kind of change it?
05:30 - I haven't, you know, luckily I haven't
05:31 read into that situation.
05:34 I'm not sure what I would say.
05:35 I think, you know, I think I would probably describe it
05:39 as a championship belt to a kid.
05:41 - Justin right here.
05:44 It seems like the plan is to have Jorge Masvidal
05:47 wrap the belt around the winner here,
05:48 but he's a teammate of Dustin.
05:50 He says he thinks Dustin is gonna win.
05:52 Do you even want him to do that if you win this fight?
05:55 - Yeah, I wanna make him do it.
05:57 Yeah, that'd be nice.
05:59 - Make the moment sweeter for you.
06:00 - Yep.
06:01 - Who do you think--
06:02 - I know who hate it, so I'll love it that much more.
06:04 - Who do you think wins between Islam and Charles
06:07 when they fight later this year?
06:08 - I mean, you'd be a fool to say Charles.
06:11 You know, we saw the last fight.
06:12 And so, you know, if you're gonna bet money,
06:16 granted you're not gonna get good odds on that money,
06:18 but yeah, I would say Islam.
06:21 I would prefer Charles
06:23 'cause I wanna get that fight back as well.
06:25 - Thank you.
06:26 - Hey, Justin, I don't know if you saw this stat,
06:30 but like, it's kind of like a wild one.
06:32 Like, since your last fight--
06:34 - Yeah, the exact same.
06:35 - Yeah, like, isn't that just a weird,
06:37 like, when you saw that, like, did you trip out?
06:39 - I mean, we both fight the best, you know,
06:43 and we both continue to do that,
06:46 both continue to prove ourselves.
06:48 And so, I mean, you know, with that loss,
06:52 the trajectory was different,
06:54 but ultimately the destination's always the same.
06:56 We've both been fighting for a championship belt
06:58 this entire time.
06:59 - Thanks, man.
07:00 - Justin Red over here.
07:02 Last year, you talked about meeting 920 Salt Lake City fans
07:06 over the course of three and a half hours
07:07 outside of the Delta Center now,
07:09 it was the Vivint Arena back then.
07:11 And so, was there any sort of a reaction
07:13 to the fact that you get to fight
07:15 in front of a bunch of people
07:16 who you got to meet last year?
07:17 And was there any reaction for you to come back here
07:20 or anything like that?
07:21 - I mean, these people love fighting.
07:24 The show last year was fantastic, you know,
07:25 they showed out.
07:27 But I'm gonna give them a better show
07:30 than they got last time, you know?
07:32 Me and Dustin, I got the perfect training partner,
07:34 perfect dance partner, I mean.
07:35 But, you know, I love fighting for people.
07:39 That's what I, you know, I'm a performer,
07:41 I love to show off,
07:42 and these people are gonna appreciate it,
07:44 so I love that.
07:45 - Actually, one follow-up.
07:50 Obviously, your former opponent, Tony Ferguson,
07:52 is fighting on this fight card.
07:56 What do you think of his career?
07:57 Like, obviously, since he fought you,
07:59 it's been down, but like, do you think,
08:03 like, he took so much damage in that fight
08:06 that it ruined his career?
08:08 - No, I don't think,
08:09 for one, I think he's crazy enough for that
08:12 not even to be a possibility.
08:14 (laughing)
08:15 I think we play a rough game, you know,
08:16 and it's so unforgiving.
08:19 You know, I think he won the first fight,
08:21 or first round against Michael Chandler,
08:22 I think he dropped him.
08:24 And, you know, it's just a battle of confidence,
08:27 battle of believing in yourself,
08:29 and there's no doubt that something like that,
08:31 you know, takes that away from you,
08:32 and you have to work hard to get it back,
08:33 but he's a fighter through and through.
08:37 You know, I got nothing but respect for him,
08:39 and I'm, you know, just hope that all of us
08:43 have people that love us enough
08:45 that are willing to have that conversation,
08:46 and that he's willing to listen,
08:48 or I'm willing to listen,
08:49 or any fighter's willing to listen
08:51 when that conversation is to be had.
08:53 - Do you think it's,
08:55 he's at that point where it's time to hang it up, or?
08:58 - I mean, we're all on a timeline, you know?
09:00 There's a beginning and end, you know,
09:03 and none of us in our mid-30s are towards the beginning.
09:07 There's no doubt about it.
09:09 - Awesome, thanks man.
09:10 Awesome, thank you guys.