Justin Gaethje promised that James Vick would exit the Pinnacle Bank Arena as a humbled man…or, in the words of Mr. Gaethje, a “humbled turd.” It is safe to say that James Vick was humbled by the first-round KO loss to Gaethje. In his first statement following the loss, Vick made no efforts to hide his new-found humility. But Monday evening, Vick would release a much lengthier statement that was a profound reflection on the test that awaits him and where he plans on going from here and for whom:
“Well two days later and this all still feels like a bad dream,” Vick began on a post on his Instagram page. “The old me yrs ago would’ve just went into isolation for a couple weeks and ignored everything in life. But things have changed. I am now a adult with a beautiful family and serious responsibilities.
My son is 4 and a half months old now and I have missed half his life gone away to training camps. My girl has been so strong and amazing holding our family down and taking care of our son all by herself. All of her family is back home in Hawaii where she’s from and my family lives 2 hrs away so she’s pretty much did it all on her own. She’s such a amazing mother and I love my family so much!!”
James Vick would then directly address his UFC career and the forward progress that is expected in spite of this major setback:
“ I was beat but not broken,” Vick said. “I am still 9-2 in the UFC, only 31 yrs old and many great yrs of fighting ahead of me. And most importantly I have never lost my passion for this fight game and still love it as much as the first day I started! I will rise from this, show my son not to give up when times get hard and will continue to work hard to give my family the best life possible in the future and make sure they never need or lack anything they need in life!!”
What do you think is next for James Vick?
