EXCLUSIVE | Justin Willis recounts tense conversation with Chase Sherman: the UFC threatened to call security

This Saturday, on the main card of the UFC’s stop in Atlantic City, New Jersey, red-hot heavyweight prospect Justin Willis will collide with all-action fan favorite Chase Sherman.

While this bout will mark the first time the pair gets to exchange punches, they’ve apparently already exchanged a few words.

“I saw him yesterday or the day before,” Willis said on the latest episode of BJ Penn Radio. “I had a conversation with him. The UFC threatened to call security. I want to say in a few days, security won’t be there to help him.”

“I just wanted some tea,” Willis added slyly. “The tea machine was there, and I was having a few words of encouragement for him. You dig?”

While Willis and Sherman’s conversation apparently got heated enough that security was nearly called, Willis assures he does respect his opponent. He just thinks he’s in over his head.

“I would like to say I respect all my opponents, because it takes bravery,” he said. “Especially it takes bravery to get in there with a killer like myself. You got to respect the man. Stylistically, what does he have to offer? I mean, all these guys have something to offer, but in all honestly and in all humbleness, it’s just not enough. It doesn’t matter what he comes with. It’s just not going to be enough. When we get in that cage, he’s going to realize that really, really quick.”

“I just grew up in this,” Willis continued. “These guys are going to realize really quick, I live in this. I’m talking about I live in this. This is not a sport. To me this is a lifestyle. This is my life, and I’m willing to take another’s life in that case in order to protect mine. He has to understand the entity in the person he’s fighting. I think just by his reactions I think he thinks this is a fucking game, and if he thinks it’s a game he’s going to fuck around and get played, and he will get played.”

Who do you think will come out on top in Justin Willis’s Saturday night scrap with Chase Sherman? Make your pick in the comments section below.

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 4/19/2018.