Josh Emmett is excited to get back to work
The Team Alpha Male product hasn’t fought since a second-round TKO loss to Jeremy Stephens at UFC on FOX 28 in Feb. 2018, which came with a bit of controversy. Aside from having his two-fight win streak snapped, the biggest blow for Emmett was the injuries that he endured in the matchup.
“I suffered multiple fractures in my face. I was having bad vertigo, all these types of things going on.” Emmett told MMANews. “I took the necessary time off because I want to have a long career. I said this before, you see it many times where they have bad concussions and they come back too soon. Get another one and their their career is over. I did not want that to happen to me. So I just kind of took it easy. Then when I got back into practice I was feeling good and then I scheduled a fight.”
Emmett (13-2) was riding a ton of momentum at the end of 2017 following his short notice fight against Ricardo Lamas where he finished “The Bully” in the first round at UFC on FOX 26. Then came the loss to Stephens and being in the midst of the longest layoff of his UFC career. For Emmett, it was a tough year professionally but personally there were some positive takeways.
“This was definitely one of the low points in my career. It was a tough, tough year financially. Because I only got paid once in 2018 and that was at the beginning of the year. Other than that I’ve just been trying to stay positive. I knew that eventually all of those symptoms would subside. Just having that core group around me, my wife is my biggest supporter. Then my good core group and family. They were the same people here in the beginning and they’re still here now. Career standpoint it was a low point, personally it was a great year. I got to do some travelling, I got to take my mom for her 65th birthday so my wife and I bought a home.”
Johnson (19-3) has already fought three of Emmett’s teammates in Danny Castillo, Darren Elkins and Andre Fili. The 32-year-old will be looking for his third win in a row and looks to push his record in the featherweight division to 3-1. Despite the fact Johnson is 2-3 in his last five fights, Emmett is not taking his opponent lightly.
“I’ve watched all of his fights, I’m a huge fan of MMA in general. He’s fought the who’s who. Beat some of the best guys. There’s nothing he has to go in there and prove. We both have similar fighting styles. We’re both powerful strikers with wrestling backgrounds. If I go in there and beat such a seasoned veteran then I’m right back in the mix. I just knew this was a fight the fans would be excited about.”
UFC on ESPN 2 takes place at Wells Fargos Center, in Philadelphia, PA on March 30.
