James Vick issues classy statement after knockout loss to Justin Gaethje

Last night, in the main event of UFC Lincoln, James Vick and Justin Gaethje stepped into the cage together to back up months of pre-fight trash talking. In the end, it was Gaethje who did so, putting Vick down with a massive punch in the first round.

This loss, unsurprisingly, was a tough one for James Vick. Not only because of all of the pre-fight trash talk, because it ended his impressive win-streak and temporarily derailed his hopes of breaking into the lightweight top-5.

James Vick discussed the loss — and offered Justin Gaethje his respect — in a classy post-fight statement on Instagram.

See what he had to say below.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bm8bm4eFBoB/

“Worst night of my life last night,” Vick said. “Thank you [Justin Gaethje] for the opportunity. Tho confident in myself I did always respect you. I said what I said to get and promote the fight. You are a class act and I do appreciate your kind words last night. I have no excuses. I was in shape, healthy and confident. I blew it. For all those that believed in me and support me I am truly sorry. I will go back and keep training and loving this life of being a fighter and a martial artist. This is the life I have chose and I guess this comes with the territory. Thanks to all my friends, family and teammates for the support and thank you [UFC] for the opportunity.”

Prior to his UFC Lincoln loss to Justin Gaethje, James Vick was on a four fight win-streak. This streak was composed of a decision defeat of Francisco Trinaldo, a TKO of Joseph Duffy, a TKO of Polo Reyes, and a submission of Abel Trujillo. The 31-year-old Texan is now 13-2 overall.

What do you think the future holds for James Vick after UFC Lincoln?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 8/24/2018.