Featherweight contender Josh Emmett answered questions from the press at the official UFC 284 media day ahead of facing Yair …
um obviously uh you want you were calling for either this title shot or this interim title shot but now that it’s here we’re only a few days removed you got the title shot that you wanted what are the emotions now that camps over you’re in the country yair is here I know some people were nervous not seeing him on embedded for a bit that he might not even make it was there any part of you that was just nervous until you finally get into the octagon um no I’m have I’m having a great time you know I’m I’m trying to live in the in the present whereas I’m always looking ahead and always looking in the future and I feel like I’m I’m never having fun um but we we came out here early we stayed in South Fremantle and it’s a it’s a little Beach Town that’s south of here it’s awesome it’s like we were going to the beach every day we found some coffee shops like great Seafood um the people are nothing but amazing and so kind and um just been trying to take it all in you know this reminds me a lot of my UFC debut when I I took a a fight on a five-day notice in in the Netherlands I flew across the world the Rotterdam took it all in first time really out of the country and that kicked off my wife and I as um I guess just travel bug you know like becoming obsessed with it so this reminds me a lot of it and I’m trying to kind of go back and and do similar things and with yair no I wasn’t I wasn’t concerned too much about that I saw a lot of people saying they were worried about that and the fight wasn’t going to happen but you know we’re all trying to achieve the same thing so this is such a you know important moment for myself and it just gets me that much closer to my ultimate goal of become the Undisputed world champion so there’s nothing that was going to stop me I said I don’t care who I fight where I fight when I fight I will be there they don’t even have to ask me you know I actually just signed the contract the other the other week just because we were dealing with some other things and um so it’s kind of funny but yeah and all’s going to be here no matter what is that normal to sign the contracts that close to the fight or is this just a it was yeah it was just a different thing and we had yeah just some other stuff but it’s kind of funny like I just joke with my wife and friends I’m like it’s not even official yet but but in my eyes it is and you did mention your ultimate goal is to be the Undisputed featherweight Champion was it important to have this fight on the same card as Alex fighting in the main event just so because like he said he’s going to fight the winner he has no plans of dropping that featherweight belt but assuming you both win you’re on the same timeline was important to be on the same card as him yeah I didn’t really mind it’s just the uh it’s just the interim title is such a to it’s a huge accomplishment so I I don’t think we needed to fight on uh the same card because uh you know different weights but but it but it makes for something special because I’m on a historic event a historic pay-per-view card you know pound for pound number one against pound for pound number two lightweight versus featherweight Champion um and we’re co-headlining it’s one of the the biggest you know I think fights of the year and who knows we’re going to see how it turns out but yeah so it is it is important to be out here and um but I just have to focus on winning first and then I’ll sit back and and tune in for that fight well I’m sure you visualized the moment of the Belt being wrapped around your your waist here in Perth would you be a fighter like when Justin gagey won he threw the belt on the ground said this isn’t real or on the flip side Dustin Poirier he treated it like he had won the belt because of the journey that it took to get him there yeah I just talked to Bisping and anik and Cruz in the back about this and I’m not going to throw it on the ground but in my eyes there’s only one fee champion and that’s Alexander volkanoski so this is more like a number one Contender Bell it’s also it gives me feedback on how good I am and leads me in the right direction to where I want to go but I have to get through yair first in order to do so so I’m solely focused on him at the moment so speaking of a year what do you make of him as an opponent stylistically do you like this matchup he’s incredibly Dynamic both on the ground and on his feet just what do you make a famous opponent overall yeah he’s a great fighter you know he’s he’s ranked number two for a reason he’s he’s one of the best in the re or in the world also so um yeah you know I just I focus on myself and uh you know even though I I have training partners that can’t emulate who I’m fighting to the T because everyone’s you know unique in their their own um and he is so Dynamic and Elusive and explosive and crafty you don’t know what he’s gonna throw at you but you know I’ve watched so many so much film on him I’ve brought in you know just like my friend and training partner Andre feely he’s fought him he has similar body style even Slava claws he’s a you know my buddy and he’s a world champion kick boxer he’s done a lot of the the things that yair throws but you know I’m I’m prepared the best my ability and I’m just going to go in there and execute my game plan and uh you know capitalize on things that I don’t think he’ll be able to correct in those that 10-week camp and I’m gonna beat him to the punch and final question for me though who do you have in the main event are you hoping Alex pulls it off just you know represent the featherweights up in in the new lightweight division yeah it’s a it’s a tough fight just because they’re they’re there’s both of them are so damn good and um you know I just have to win first and then of course I’m pulling for volt because you know how big that that fight would be and um yeah it would be it would be massive and uh you know just a featherweight going up and then becoming the double champ you know a few have only succeeded only a few have even had the opportunity to do it so yeah I’m pulling for the underdog I’m always rooting for the underdog and he’s he’s a massive underdog is the biggest hope Josh maybe that just win or lose Alex comes out of that like relatively unscathed you know no serious injuries or anything so we can get this thing going as soon as possible yeah of course you know that’s with every fighter in the UFC I I I don’t wish anything even my my worst enemies I don’t have any in the UFC but I’m just saying I don’t wish injury or anything on anything bad for any fighter because it’s a lot of people don’t understand what it takes to do what we’re doing and and what goes into the preparation and everything so I even my opponents when I I win I just hope we both come out of their injury free because we both have you know families friends everything it’s we’re all trying to accomplish the same thing so yeah I want them both to come out of there unscathed and injury-free you mentioned you have no uh enemies in fighting who who have been some enemies outside of fighting yeah yeah no I don’t I don’t have that either but I’m just saying just in general I want to wish my worst enemy I wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to them yeah of course watching lots of tape on the air and stuff like what’s the balance of not focusing so much on what he’s going to do in there and like fighting your fight but also being aware of the danger he presents is that like a difficult kind of balance to find mentally when you’re in there no not really it’s uh it’s what I do all the time you know it’s uh I really just focus on myself but I watch I watch film on every single opponent that I’ve I’ve faced and um you know I have the most respect for everyone and then I I I just I don’t know how good they are I don’t know how fast they are how hard they hit all these type of things I I think it’s like Top Notch when I’m watching film and then it sounds crazy but I like to get in there and I I like to get hit by him and and see how how hard do they actually hit how fast are they like to get their timing down um you know so I I can’t tell you if this is going to be the hardest fight in my life or the easiest fight but I’ll let you know after I win you know there you go and how much did the last fight like really prep you for this one I mean five rounds doesn’t get much more like difficult than that um does that give you more confidence coming into this one no not at all you know I I was a I was a lightweight champion on a regional scene my my conditioning is Top Notch I see a lot of people saying that I wouldn’t be able to go five rounds I could have won another 10 Rounds that that the pace of that fight that I had last was so it was just so slow like I I don’t know I just didn’t have any sense into urgency to going for the for the kill just because I thought I was up but I I know I’ve seen a lot of what other people think but you know I just I also feel like when I fight someone and I did this in wrestling my whole career as well um I just kind of and my coaches tell me like not that I stoop to anyone’s level or I just fight it like this consistent Pace um the better the the opponent the better the fighter the wrestler I rise to the occasion and they bring out the best in me so I’m hoping I get the best yair Rodriguez and it’ll bring out the best in me and I’ll show you guys how great I am Dee you mentioned the last fight and like kind of the the talk around the decision was that difficult for you at all to get over in the aftermath or once you knew you were getting this fight it’s like well it doesn’t really matter no there’s no way I won like it’s like I I see like a win’s a win you know and the thing that I see with people saying about title fights oh saying that possibly didn’t deserve it because of a close fight when you play sport you win like say if you’re in the the NBA though the Western Conference Finals if they went in overtime by one point did they not get to go to the NBA finals because it was a close game no they won the winner Advance that’s how things happen even in you know any type of bracket situation you win you move on it doesn’t it doesn’t matter I’m trying to finish the fight every chance I get I’m definitely not trying to let it go to the scorecards you know but it’s just a wins a win and that’s what happened you know is that kind of maybe the the negative double standard of MMA fans a little bit they want this meritocracy and you know but it seems like it’s selective on who they want it for I guess and it does Everyone’s entitled to their own opinion so it really doesn’t affect me look where I am there you go hey Josh just uh quickly what do you think of Alex daring to be great and taking on this challenge of Islam I think it’s great you know he he’s earned it you know it a lot of times when they were talking about um he may not be able to go up or possibly Dana didn’t want him to or or whatnot it’s like he’s undefeated in the UFC the featherweight Champion he’s beat some of the Legends and goats of the division pound for pound number one he’s earned it let the guy do whatever the hell he wants and being here with him on the same car did he run into him yet have you had any interactions with Alex have you had a chance to wish him luck or tell him hey this could be next yeah no no I haven’t seen him this trip you know I’ve seen his coaches great great coaches great teammates um yeah vulcanocity is a great guy I met him down in Rio when he fought Jose Aldo and uh yeah but yeah I’m looking forward to running to him and wishing him luck and Josh is uh is there any extra pressure with Volk on the card to almost impress him or show what you could do get your area out early no no I’m just gonna go in you know I don’t have to um make statements I don’t have to impress anyone I just have to win and uh so there’s no no added pressure or anything on me even though there is so much on the line um it’s just another fight another opponent in front of me and um yeah it’s like I’m I’m just how I always am just calm cool and relaxed so um yeah I’m looking forward to Sunday afternoon though is that is fighting on a Sunday gonna feel any different for years Avi is that coming to your training at all um no I I don’t think it’s gonna affect me or bother me at all um I I’ve been training around you know the afternoons just in general back home and we came out here early acclimated um I think I’m actually gonna like it more you know just because when we fight at night and we’re say we’re in Vegas or in the states and you know later in the card and we’re fighting at like nine or Beyond I’m I’m super tired you know so I’m just like backstage like laying on the mats trying to take a take a nap and then it’s like I gotta they’re like you’re up next I’m like okay I gotta somewhat pump myself up and uh it was there any specific reason you chose Champions Jim to to get ready at yeah so one of our our good friends Tess she’s she’s actually from Perth and um Champions gym it’s it’s her brother her older brother owns those gems and so they’re nothing but welcoming and and showed us so much hospitality and uh we’re gonna go to her father’s gym this afternoon um he owns a movie Thai gym in in Perth and and he’s he brought Muay Thai to Australia that’s why it’s here awesome thank you Josh uh two quick more uh two more quick ones uh on Instagram you wrote uh when wall decides to sponsor your balls for this fight so what exactly how did that sponsorship come about yeah so I think it’s just that you know you guys know wall like I I use their products forever I’ve used the balding clippers and they came out with wall manscaper so it’s a direct competitor with manscape and I think just playing off of the uh just the whole thing I they want me to be the face of that and uh you know it’s We’re Going Down Under below the belt type of things it kind of uh be any better so it’s it’s been nothing but amazing Wall’s been like welcoming and I did all those uh little shoots with them and commercials and and that was fun and it’s just it’s just we’re just having a good time and um you guys can go to joshim.com if you guys want to get yourself one so that that copy that used on Instagram sponsored my balls that was your idea and that was in wall coming to you and be like hey what do you think of this no it wasn’t my ideas I can’t take the credit for that but it was definitely all done and then final one uh what do you make of the two of featherweight fights announced between Arnold Allen Max Holloway and um the other one that one that one’s the big one yeah no I think it’s going to be a great fight you know what I mean um yeah I’m excited for it you know I’m I’m a a fight fan that’s kind of what got me into this sport back in the day when I was back in 99 um you guys can do the math how old I am but I was uh watching the pay-per-view events back then when there was only a few a year and uh I’m a fan of the sport I watch every card if I can okay how you going Josh great um just going back to the end of the max Holloway volkanovsky trilogy there was three names kind of thrown around in contention for who’s going to fight next yourself among them with this fight they probably could have gone the other way where Ellen was fighting Rodriguez instead how would you have felt if that had gone would you have felt cheated or um then knowing that he got the max Holloway fight would you have kind of been oh it kind of worked out in the end sort of thing um no I I thought I was like the Clear Choice you know if you look at my win record uh the streak I’m on the the actual opponents I beat in the top 10 top five I thought for sure I was next um you know and then I know Alan and yair were thrown in the mix and you know it is kind of what it is so I I don’t really who knows what would have happened I guess it would have happened have to happen a different way for me to to fill any type of emotion thank you