Exclusive | Jay Perrin looking for a Nate Diaz moment against Aoriqileng at UFC 278: ‘I want that more than anything’
In the early prelims of UFC 278, Jay Perrin faces off against Aoriqileng in an exhilarating bantamweight bout that promises to be an instant contender for fight of the night.
Jay Perrin recently spoke with Mike Owens in a LowKickMMA Exclusive, where he discussed exactly why there is so much excitement surrounding this bout. He stated:
“I think the matchmakers did a good job. I do. I think after my last fight I proved that I’m willing to stand there and trade with people. My boxing’s good enough to do all that. Aoriqileng is – he’s deceptive because he appears to have more tools than he does, but he’s hyper aggressive. And there’s two versions of him. He’s either gonna back up, he backed up a little bit against Cameron Else, I don’t think he’s going to do that against me. I think that me and him are going to stand in the middle and trade a little bit. And we’re gonna figure out whose gonna take a backstep first. That s**t sets my teeth on edge, I love that idea.”
‘The Joker’ went on to state that he has hopes of recreating similar moments to that of the iconic fan favorite, Nate Diaz.
“I have that photo of Nate Diaz, he’s got all the blood all over him. He’s f**king throwing – I want that more than anything. And I think Aoriqileng is the guy to give it to me. He’s got a big right hand. He’s gonna come forward at me, he’s not gonna stop. But again, I’ve said it before and this is just a fact, you got sat down by a 125er. More than one time. I’m not a 125er. I really do think one of my right hands are gonna connect on his jaw and he’s gonna fall down.”
Jay Perrin talks fighting in front of a sold out crowd
Whilst this is not Jay Perrin’s first bout in the UFC, it will be his first fight in front of a sold out arena full of fans. ‘The Joker’s’ only prior fight for the promotion came in the Apex Arena, when he dropped a competitive decision loss to Mario Bautista.
“The Apex is wonderful. But it feels more like a regional fight, if that makes sense. Because it’s so intimate. You can hear everybody. Not that you can’t hear everybody in a big crowd, but 30,000 people, all that s**t is just noise. That’s what we live for. We live for the walk I’m about to make. You can either look at it as something that’s a giant hill, or you can be like ‘look man, this is what I’ve been wanting for my whole life.’ So I can’t be anything but excited to walk out through the tunnel, finally, it’s a tunnel, that I’m gonna walk through, and there’s gonna be 30,000 people. I’ve waited since I was 14 to do this.”
