James Vick: ‘I’d beat the brakes off Conor McGregor’
“I really think that I can win that fight pretty easily, I really do.”
Rising UFC lightweight contender James Vick certainly isn’t short on confidence heading into tonight’s headlining bout with Justin Gaethje at UFC Fight Night 135.
Not only does Vick plan to put a beating on ‘The Homer Simpson of MMA’, but ‘The Texecutioner’ believes he’s more than capable of beating the breaks off former lightweight and featherweight champion Conor McGregor, who will take on current champ Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229.
Speaking to Fantastic Views in a recent interview (h/t Drake Riggs of BJPenn.com), Vick believes he has the physical advantages to run circles around McGregor in the Octagon and make it look ‘easy’ against the Irishman.
”In my mind, I’m six inches taller than the guy, I’ve got a five-inch reach advantage,” Vick said. “I’d beat the brakes off Conor McGregor, in my mind. I’d love to take the fight, I’d love to fight him not just for the money, but to beat a guy with a name like that, you’d go down in history as well. And I really think that I can win that fight pretty easily, I really do. With my range and movements, I win that fight pretty easy.”
Although Vick is confident he outclasses McGregor, the 31-year-old has nothing but respect for what ‘The Notorious’ has accomplished and admits that a fight with the UFC megastar would change his life.
“A lot of people hate on Conor McGregor, I think he’s phenomenal for the sport,” he said. “He’s brought attention and media coverage to our sport that we wouldn’t get from other avenues. He has different companies that wouldn’t be interested in MMA all of a sudden very interested in MMA and the UFC. So I love the fact that he’s in the UFC and love the fact that he’s in my weight class. and I would love to fight him, it would change my life. He’s a great fighter, he’s very good for the sport.”
Before there’s any talk of a fight with McGregor, Vick must first get past former World Series of Fighting lightweight champ Gaethje, who he meets later tonight, Aug. 25, in the UFC Fight Night 135 main event at the Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Nebraska.