Here’s what Gaethje had to say.
“The effort I put in, I expect myself to have eight to 12 weeks of preparation, and that’s the way I do things,” said Gaethje “So I hope to never make the mistake – I just want to put it on the record for myself, to look back on – that I hope I never make the mistake of taking a last-second fight. Because inside, I would want to. But it shouldn’t happen.”
“I think the name of this game is not how you win; obviously, you have to win,” he said, speaking about Tony Ferguson and Kevin Lee. “But it’s how you win. These guys are going to come in tonight, and if there’s a decision or they have a boring decision … they’re not going to come out with any negotiating tactics.”
“I’m going to go in there and finish Eddie absolutely as fast as possible,” he said. “I deserve a shot at the championship if I keep beating these guys. So I hope I earn that. I will earn it. I think Conor’s going to make somebody earn it. These boys tonight, I hope they put on a show for us. But I have a feeling one of them just wants to win.
“I don’t want to win. I want to put on a show. I want to be the most violent lightweight in the world. And if I have to go through one of these guys after I beat Eddie, I will. But I’m going to be running for sheriff around here.”