Emmett believes his upcoming opponent has been matched up
against him too soon.
Emmett (19-6) will headline the fifth UFC Fight Night of his career
against Kevin
Vallejos (17-1) at
UFC Fight Night 269 on Saturday at the Apex in Las Vegas.
Emmett is 17 years older than the 24-year-old Argentinian, who goes
into the first
UFC headliner of his career.
Emmett believes experience will be a deciding factor in his
upcoming fight against Vallejos. Having shared the Octagon with
some of the best in the sport, Emmett believes Vallejos has nothing
to offer that he hasn’t seen yet. While Emmett respects Vallejos,
he believes “El Chino” is being pushed too fast up the
rankings.
Experience Counts
“It’s gonna be a huge difference,” Emmett told the UFC on Paramount. “I’ve been in there with some
of the best fighters there are. And there’s nothing that he’s gonna
do or show me that I haven’t already seen. I give him all the
respect in the world, tough kid. But I think they’re pushing him a
little too fast.”
Emmett has gone 10-6 in his decade-long UFC career so far. “CC0”
has faced the who’s who at featherweight, leaving behind the likes
of Calvin
Kattar, Michael
Johnson, Dan Ige, and
Bryce
Mitchell in his wake. Emmett is one of only two fighters to go
the distance against lightweight champion Ilia
Topuria. The 41-year-old is coming off consecutive losses
against Lerone
Murphy and Youssef
Zalal.
Meanwhile, Vallejos suffered his lone career loss against current
UFC featherweight contender Jean Silva
in his first
Dana White’s Contender Seriesopportunity in 2023. Vallejos
rebounded with a couple of wins to earn another Contender Series
opportunity next year, where he earned his UFC contract with a
first-round knockout win over Cam Teague.
Vallejos has since racked up three wins in the UFC, most recently a
spinning-backfist knockout over Giga
Chikadze this past December.