EXCLUSIVE | James Vick makes pick for UFC Norfolk main event, expects to be ducked by winner

Last weekend, on the undercard of the stacked UFC 217, streaking lightweight contender James Vick picked up a beautiful stoppage win over the highly regarded Joe Duffy. Yet while this was undeniably huge for his career, Vick expects his difficulty to track down a willing, top-10 foe to continue.

At present, Vick has his eyes on the main event of the UFC’s Saturday stop in Norfolk, which will pit Dustin Poirier against former champ Anthony Pettis. Speaking on the latest episode of BJ Penn Radio, Vick made his pick for this anticipated UFC Norfolk main event, and also explained that he expects to be ducked by the winner of the fight.

“The thing I’m worried about is I kind of think Poirier’s gonna win, and Poirier’s not gonna take the fight with me after he just beat a former world champion,” Vick said on BJ Penn Radio. “In his mind, he beat Eddie Alvarez and he did beat Eddie Alvarez. He should’ve won that fight [instead of the no contest ruling], and now he’s gonna beat another former world champ, so in his mind… Here’s the thing, these guys are mid-30-year-old journeymen. I’ve never disrespected this man, I’ve never talked bad about him and I’m not trying to be that guy, but he knows I’m in a high risk, low reward situation for him. I’m the highest risk he could take. I’m a 6’3” lightweight that can finish these people anywhere.”

“And I’m better than him pretty much everywhere,” Vick continued, discussing a possible fight with Poirier. “And my name is not of value, so I understand why would he [fight someone else over me]. At the end of the day, [all top-10 fighters] are given a chance, so you need to give someone else a chance. Every one of them are where they’re at because they were given a chance at one point in their career. So they need to return that favor. I just want a chance. I’m worried that either one of them really won’t fight me. I really am. The only way I see me getting the main event spot I want in Austin, Texas, in February is the UFC just moving me into the rankings on my own and me getting ranked. And then the UFC having to strong arm someone to take a fight with me, because they ain’t gonna voluntarily take the fight with me.”

Who do you want to see James Vick fight next?

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 9/11/2017.