EXCLUSIVE | James Vick suggests a tough punishment for a fighters who turn down fights

15th-ranked UFC lightweight James Vick has been having a very difficult time finding fights, and that trend continues to this day. Having had his hopes of headlining the UFC’s return to Austin opposite Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone dashed, he’s now eagerly waiting to see what else the UFC can come up with for him.

While the promotion apparently has four potential opponents in mind for him, the increasingly frustrated James Vick won’t be surprised if they all turn him down. In his opinion, fighters just don’t accept fights with the willingness they once did. And he thinks it’s time they started being punished for their over-selectiveness.

“I think that what they need to do is if motherfuckers aren’t going to fight, they need to start stripping people of their rankings,” Vick suggested on the latest episode of BJ Penn Radio.

“That’s the only logical thing, because obviously you can’t put a gun to somebody’s head and make them fight,” he continued. “Some of these people, if [they] make a $100,000 a fight, [they can say] ‘okay, that’s cool. I’ve got money. I can chill.’ If you start getting stripped of your ranking for not taking a fights then maybe that’ll give people incentive.”

Vick then continued, reiterating his frustration with fighters who sit on the sidelines waiting for their ideal fights to materialize.

I don’t get it. Where’s the integrity of people…” he said. “These people, they don’t have pride in themselves as a fucking man to take a fight with someone. They keep turning down fights. I’m not happy. I’ll tell you that.”

At the end of the day, James Vick is just hoping some ranked lightweight will give him the opportunity to show what he’s capable of.

“They don’t give the opportunity. Guess what? All of your got the opportunity to get to where you’re at [in the rankings]. That’s why you’re where you’re at, so give me a chance. If I lose … that’s what all these guys want to talk crap about because I lost to Beneil Dariush. Beneil Dariush is  good … He’s a good-ass fighter. Yeah, I took a loss, but guess what? Every one of these guys in the top 15 have more losses in the UFC than me. The only guy that’s ranked above me that has less losses in the UFC than I do is Khabib, because he’s never lost. He’s the only one. All the other guys have lost more fights than I’ve lost in the UFC. How the fuck am I going to get an opportunity with the rank that I have? You know?”

What do you think of these comments from James Vick?

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 28/12/2017.