Justin Gaethje and Luis Palomino had a spectacular fight on March 28th in Phoenix.
The World Series of Fighting (WSOF) lightweight champion needed three rounds (and a ton of leg kicks) to put Palomino away, showing off a ridiculously hard chin in the process, ultimately surviving Palomino's punching power to remain undefeated.
The fight was so good that WSOF couldn't resist booking both men for an immediate rematch. In a brand new video blog leading up to their fight in Phoenix on Sept. 18, Gaethje insists that Palomino didn't earn a second go-round.
"I don't think he deserves this shot so, my only job is to go out there and prove that. He doesn't belong in there. I proved it once, but I'm going to have to do it much, much more violently."
At 14-0, Gaethje has every right to be confident, and his training regimen for the rematch is building his confidence up even higher.
"I can't wait. I'm training my ass off right. Trevor Wittman, Jake Ramos down here at Grudge Training Center, they got me on point right now. It's my cardio, I just gotta push a solid pace like the last fight."
Gaethje admits that his tendency to walk forward into punches led to him getting clipped a lot last time, but is not worried about changing his style up too much.
"I'm gonna go forward, he's gonna go backwards, until this fight is over. That's all I've ever done. Growing up wrestling my whole life, I always moved forward. It got me in trouble a lot in wrestling, it's helped me a lot in fighting so, I'm gonna keep doing what I've been doing."
Gaethje also credits wrestling for what got him to where he is right now.
"It defines who I am right now. Every bit of mental toughness, my hard work ethic, it comes from my family as well but wrestling man it's just... crazy what you can learn whenever you push yourself to the crazy lengths that you have to push yourself to to be the best at something."
And his final words of warning go to Palomino and all future opponents.
"I'm gonna keep pushing, keep fighting, take (them) one at a time and prove I'm the best in the world."