Top lightweight contenders Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje join Daniel Cormier on ESPN’s, ‘DC & RC,’ to discuss past bouts …
foreign [Music] Clark is above that so he took the day off I’m joined now by the maid of it of UFC 291 live from Salt Lake City one of my favorite cities to go and watch fights uh Dustin Fourier the former UFC interim lightweight champion and Justin gaichi the former UFC interim lightweight champion fellas thank you all for joining me how y’all doing do it sound tickets well that’s uh JG somebody had to go sell tickets then I heard that when it was brought up Fourier told me he was like expletive gold sell tickets to Utah I’m staying in Florida I heard the a side made the call to you you thought someone’s gonna make us the money baby let’s go we’re gonna fight so we might as well cash in on it yeah you might as well so duxton I’m looking at you too and gaichi still kind of looks like he’s getting into Camp you look like you hard at work already like in shape on Facebook did you expect the fight to be sooner or something nah just had a had a while you know I had a long layoff so I just been working you know but yeah I’m in Florida I’m between sessions right now we working man what about you JG are you call me fat I’m not calling you I got a black eye already yeah see he got a black guy you just gonna look fresh face you look the same as you do when you walk up to the golf course in your free time that’s cause I got my nutritionist she’s been there for for a long time now I’m trying not to get fat in between fights anymore I’m too old for that all right fellas talk me through the process how did this fight come together and I heard that you guys are going to fight a long time I heard that they wanted you guys to fight in Vancouver which is the next pay-per-view coming up Why didn’t it happen then and what was the process of getting you two together in Utah and having the BMF title on the line four Dustin you go first you say Justin or Dustin yeah uh the Vancouver thing we were talking about it with the UFC it it never really a contract never came through and never materialized and then whenever uh Oliveira got hurt they switched that to the to the the co-main spot under Amanda Nunes and they kind of stopped talking about it with me then they brought this date up to me and it’s and it worked for me because my daughter’s out of school so I can do a training camp with my family you know for most of the training and what about you JG yeah I mean um you know coming off the fight in March June when they come in for June I was like that’s a little bit too soon you know still uh took a couple weeks to kind of recuperate that dude was super fast uh kicked a lot you need my RMC held up so I you know had to take a little time before I got back to training and also told me I wanted to push it out a little bit in July 29th especially Main Event pay-per-view for such a prestigious title I mean it was a no-brainer you know when I look at you too you two are and the excitement around the fight announcement shows Why YouTube should be fighting for the BMF title when you talk about the BMF Championship was that something that was brought to you guys initially if it was in Vancouver was this something that kind of became reality when you were in the main event in fighting in Salt Lake City and what does that belt even mean to YouTube after watching Diaz and mozo fight for the first time for Vancouver they weren’t I never heard anything about the BMF title but when they started talking about main Eventing a show in Salt Lake they brought it up and to me man DC the track record me and this guy have of entertaining fights and fight of the Year contenders it just makes sense it’s like a Fighter’s fight you know this is the Hardcore fans are going to tune in for this so I know the BMF title isn’t isn’t the Undisputed title but it’s still fun for me it makes sense with with who I’m fighting and our history in the sport so let’s go yeah I mean it’s a prestigious title I mean only one guy’s ever won it you know Jorge Mazda a legend to bet in the game um you know you’re gonna find past interviews of me kind of being a little bit critical of the BMF title but you know as we come along and as I get put in the position to fight for it you know you really understand how how prestigious this this Championship is and what it actually means and with it comes you know a shot at the Undisputed title um and uh it’s a beautiful belt it’s gonna look great next to our uh to one of our UFC belts you know it’s always it’s always something with Joe’s up it’s always something until it’s you fighting for it now now all of a sudden you’re gonna change it too whenever you’re talking all kind of crazy before do it a little bit I mean you know you can’t put yourself in those shoes until you’re there and uh yeah I mean again with it being so prestigious I mean it’s you don’t want to say it’s even more used to the UFC title but it actually is I mean nobody’s fighting for this he takes the the you know it takes the resume of Dustin Poirier resume of Justin gaichi and uh of course it’s the kind of headline the main event would you say Dustin what did you say The Perfect Storm that’s what it takes yeah you know I don’t know how many moving forward I don’t know how many more times this belt’s gonna be brought up or fought for but when the two when two guys like me and Justin or like Nate and mask it all meet up I think it makes sense you know so last time we did this Dustin you were very very frustrated with Michael Chandler and you guys were kind of going back and forth you and Justin gauges seem to have the utmost respect for each other where was that found at like where did disrespect come from was it just in the fight or was it watching from afar also because as the guy that won DP you got to feel pretty good about your prospects of winning this fight the second time but where did this respect come for Justin gaichi it came from spending over 20 minutes in octagon with him bleeding you know um but yeah and I’m a fan of his anytime he fights I’m gonna watch you know uh he’s the kind of fighter I like to watch he puts it all on the line every time and those are the kind of fights that I want to be involved in so that’s why this fight’s exciting to me but you know I’ve ran it to Justin a few times since we fought and he’s always been straight up you know the thing with Chandler was because I think he’s fake but Justin seems real to me yeah he is what separates Dustin For You Justin from the guys other guys that you have fought like when you think about the rematch with Dustin 48 what stood out in the Octagon from that night way back in the day when I that was the first time you ever lost the fight right JG was like nothing right before that yeah no it was um it was a great learning experience I mean it tons of respect for for the dude that you know he’s a dog and um what he’s done to McGregor last couple fights was uh super impressive and um you know always love to see that dude get broken so this guy’s a dog and um you know I know I know I’m gonna have to be perfect I know that um there’s no need for animosity we’re two of the two of the best most violent athletes in the sport uh we both love what we do uh we both love the Carnage and we’re both content with um with what we’re about to put ourselves to it’s all preparation uh he’s super confident I’m super confident coming off this last win and again this car is stacked it’s going to be an electric night I know I know what you want you want us to sit here and talk back and forth look look these kind of fights don’t need that you know what you’re getting hey what What’s Understood don’t need to be explained 25 minutes of something nasty is going to happen July 29th and we both know that you know that everybody clicking pay-per-view buy knows that let’s go man no I give it BP I get that you don’t need to sell right and we have seed pay-per-views do well without the cell but Justin you just said something very very uh important you said perfect I have to be perfect even exist inside of an octagon perfect doesn’t exist inside of an octagon does that come with a lot of pressure because you fought him before knowing man I can’t make any mistakes I made before therefore I gotta try to be perfect inside the octagon and that don’t exist yeah I mean you know uh that that’s why it was five years ago that that it’s not even a factor it won’t be a factor July 29th I’m not the same guy he’s not the same guy uh again there’s I need to be more perfect than him I need to make less mistakes than him I need to capitalize on the mistakes that he makes of course you’re not perfect in a fight but ultimately it’s um it’s it’s up to me to take advantage of the mistakes that he makes and make you make mistakes and um that’s the name of this game you know high level fights two guys with the skills that we possess you know you have to be perfect DP how perfect would you would how perfect were you in 2018 and how close to perfect do you have to be in order to beat this guy this just engage that we’d see today that got through Rock from the office even the way that he did that got through Michael Chandler in the way that he did how close to perfect do you feel you have to be in the octagon and do you feel like you fought the perfect fight last time you fought no I made a lot of mistakes last time nobody like like we just said nobody’s perfect we’re chasing it every time we want to show Improvement we’re chasing it but nobody’s perfect you know and not in this game well maybe Ernesto maybe he’s perfect but other than that nobody’s perfect uh and and like he said this is a completely different fight this is five years we both had our ups and downs we both learned a lot put a lot of camps in have great teams this is a completely different fight so I I watched that the previous fight with my team when I got in Florida I’m not gonna watch it again you know not gonna watch it again nah there’s no reason to there’s no reason when you watch him today though do you see that much of a difference because when we watch them inside the Octagon Justin gaichi back then was getting fighting tonight every single time because of his fighting style and today he still is fighting in the same regard just maybe a little smarter and still collecting those bonus checks so how much has he really changed over the course of his five years he’s definitely added some footwork to his to his game um he’s using his jab a lot more he’s moving laterally a lot more he’s not standing directly in front of somebody covering up high like he was doing before this is talking about his last fight you know but I still see that same dog every time he goes out that’s why he’s winning these bonuses like you say he’s going out there to leave it all in the line finish you or get finished every time out that’s why he’s getting these bonuses but he has added a lot of new wrinkles to his game with his footwork his defense his jab setting his combinations up you know a lot of things even saw him throw a high kick in this last fight JG JG where has he improved over the last five years what are you seeing Dustin Fourier outside he’s much bigger physically when he steps into the outcome today what is where else has he improve inside the Opera when you watch The Natural Evolution of the of the athlete I mean he’s gonna evolve especially with the big fights that that we’re both in you have no choice but to go in there especially with the teams that we have I mean our coaches are constantly trying to teach us and and correct things and break bad habits um no matter how long you do this you’re gonna have bad habits and you’ve got to just work on you know we got eight weeks from uh from Saturday to work on confidence and to to work on uh to work on all that so I mean I think uh he’s a dog he was a dog then he’s a dog now he’s just a more confident and more refined and more uh more a better athlete in general and um you know the wins the losses um all the ups and downs that we faced is just you know part of the game and it teaches us to to grow and it’s easiest to control emotions more so I think that we’re both more capable of being uh you know a more controlled killer if you want to say so Justin with all that being said and you Dustin you guys have both had ups and downs something that you won’t mention the entire time both have held UFC gold both have also fought against the UFC gold is this BMF Championship an opportunity to propel you into that one last run at trying to get to the top because I know ultimately that you two guys both still have Championship aspirations 100 you know I think this is a number one contend to fight for sure I don’t think we jump over benil if he wins but I think we’re next in line in over Charles Oliver right because him and Islam just fought like one of whoever wins this fight should get the Islam fight considering it’s a new matchup or at least that’s what I would imagine that’s what I would imagine too but you know how this is man if it’s not in writing on contract we just take it one day at a time and Justin do you feel like this BMF Championship makes it easier for you to say hey I’m next for a title fight because now you want to in a row and if you win this one that’ll be three in a row and that would warrant a championship fight wouldn’t it yeah I mean I mean these uh these rankings are for a reason you know they might not be as 100 as legit as we think they are but you know he’s number two I’m number three number one fight number four and the champion needs someone to fight to give Darius wins he’s gonna fight in October and the winner of that fight will fight the winner of this fight yeah I think one of us is going to be uh right back in the camp right back in the camp Justin you have said recently that you’re kind of making one last run at this thing is Utah July 29th a do or die for you or do you ever look at things like that yeah I wouldn’t consider we’re you know like obviously I’m planning on winning but even you know I don’t want to put myself in a position where I got to think of if I lose but I wouldn’t imagine uh the fire’s not gone you know when I talk when I talk in those hyperboles I’m talking about the future and I’m talking about the reality of the situation on 35 fights into a a career I’m 34 years old uh there’s plenty of examples of of going too long and I I have people around me that love me that are gonna they’re gonna prevent that and I trust them and when they want to have that conversation I’ll listen to it but for right now uh we’re full steam ahead I mean there’s this is a lifelong journey a life lifelong um just work I’ve been working for so long we’ve all been working for so long and uh yeah this is a fun run I thank God every day for the for the journey that I’ve been on for the opportunity to inspire the world uh through winning or losing and so yeah I’m excited for for another opportunity to go out there and put it online NDP there’s no thoughts of the end for you at this point in your career no right I try not to focus on it I mean I know it’s coming it it’s it’s inevitable you know father time is undefeated but I’ve been like Justin said I’ve been fighting a long time this is my 47th mixed martial arts fight and uh we’ll see I don’t I don’t look that far one fight at a time you know after July 29th we assess the situation and take it from there but I still feel great man my body feels good my mind feels good I still love what I do so as long as that’s there I’m still here boys how does the fight end on July 29th Dustin can you finish this guy again a guy that doesn’t really get finished and does and Justin how do you change the outcome from the first time because the stakes are high in this one it’s more than just the belt because whoever wins this one really does prove who has one of the toughest son of a guns on the entire planet because we know what you two are capable of can you finish this guy again Dustin Fourier and then Justin how do you flip the result I can finish him again 100 if I can finish anybody in the world at 155 pounds I just have to be on in the right middle space ready to perform you know it’s 25 minutes to get it done and July 29th bro I’m gonna be brilliant in there man I’m telling you would you ask me I just asked you how do you flip the result how do you change what happened in the first fight how do you beat a guy that has proven to do something that’s been so difficult to do not only beat you but get a finish yeah I mean every fight is is its own it’s its own you know time that was five years ago I again I do not believe that that is a factor I won’t watch that fight the UFC made me watch it the other day and it’s a hell of a it’s a fun fight to watch but uh you know like I said I felt like an idiot and um you know but okay that’s the challenge that we’re facing every time every fight is so different I fought all bear like an ADA that was two fights ago I fought the last fight perfect I fought the fight before Oliveira perfect against Chandler so it’s just every every one of these is a different circumstance a different time and um it’s all that just 25 minutes on July 29th that’s all that matters um what could have happened I don’t know you know I’m preparing for for 25 minutes of hell because I know I’m fighting a dog and I know that I’ll never quit on myself and he knows that and so I’m sure we’re both going to be as prepared as we possibly can you know guys you got two of the toughest men walking God’s green earth fighting for the BMF Championship on July 29th but it does not stop there this pay-per-view card is absolutely stacked from these guys fighting to the co-main event all the way down to the fight that starts the card UFC 291 is going to be an absolute Banger from Salt Lake City but all you got to do guys is look at the Marquee and when you see Dustin Fourier and when you see Justin gaichi you hit the buy button because these dudes guarantee fireworks fellas thank you so much for joining me I appreciate you guys tapping in and good luck man in training camp stay healthy because I could not imagine going to Salt Lake City and not getting to watch you two guys hey calm down calm down hey before he is from Louisiana so he throw his salt over his shoulder he knocking on wood he doing everything I hope y’all want to stay healthy man because July 29th is going to be amazing thank y’all for joining me all right later boys let’s go foreign [Music]