Josh Emmett knows all he needs to do is land one punch to end the fight and it’s no different ahead of his co-main event scrap against Shane Burgos.
Emmett will be making the walk for the first time since UFC Sacramento last July where he scored a first-round TKO win over Mirsad Bektic. Since the fight, Emmett was looking to return a lot sooner. But, he couldn’t get a fight booked and was then planning on testing free agency before inking a new deal.
“It’s super frustrating. After the Stephens fight, I was out for 13 months. I come back and beat Michael Johnson in devastating fashion. I then beat Mirsad Bektic by first-round knockout and I wanted that momentum and fight big fights,” Emmett said to BJPENN.com. “The only reason I was going to fight Arnold Allen was so I could fight out my contract. That was the whole thing then I got injured which was a blessing in disguise. I would have fought out my contract tested free agency and then the pandemic hit and a lot of other organizations aren’t fighting for a long time.
“Then the Barboza fight, I wasn’t opposed to it but they threw it out there when I was in Vietnam and had four weeks to fight. I was down to fight him but I wanted San Diego on May 16 if not June,” he explained. “They didn’t even offer me the fight when they announced it. I then got offered the Burgos fight and I think more people are excited about this fight than the Barboza fight. It’s going to be a hell of a fight just with both of our styles. I also inked a new four-fight deal that I’m happy with and planning on making a statement.”
Josh Emmett knows this fight against Burgos is crucial for him to work his way up to a title shot. Burgos is on a winning streak but the Team Alpha Male product is confident he land the knockout punch once again.
“I’m hoping to get the knockout. But, it is so hard to predict fights. I visualize every single way how I can win. But, I see myself getting my hand raised no matter what,” he explained. “In the perfect case scenario, I would land the first punch and get another big knockout. I do feel like against anyone on the division I’m a bad matchup. If I can land a clean shot I can end the fight. There is no doubt I’ll be looking for the knockout but I’m just focused on getting my hand raised.”
Emmett, who enters this fight as an underdog once again, isn’t paying any attention to that. Instead, he is confident in his skill set to keep this fight standing and land the knockout punch.
“15 minutes is a long time to fight someone and I only need to land one punch. I can guarantee I will land at least one,” he concluded.
Do you think Josh Emmett will be able to KO Shane Burgos?