Photo credit to Salt Wire
Jesse Arnett on Ali AlQaisi UAEW title fight “This is my fight to win”
Jesse Arnett will test skills with Ali AlQaisi and challenges for his featherweight title at UAE Warriors 30 on July 2nd.
I spoke with Arnett once again on Bowks Talking Bouts, and the show’s stalwart offered great insights ahead of this one. Excerpts from our chat are below.
Jesse Arnett
Fighting at featherweight for the first time in many years after a stellar bantamweight tenure
“This is my division now, 145 pounds… It’s not worth it for me anymore. I won’t go 135 lbs. I had a good run but I got a lot of experience now. I’m not weak in this division by any means. Like maybe in the top ten at the highest level, I’d be a little bit undersized. But where I’m fighting right now, I’m still the bigger man than Ali. Still gonna be more powerful than him. I like this weight class and moving forward, this is my weight class for sure now.”
UAE Warriors 30
Thoughts on the stylistic proclivities of opponent Ali AlQaisi
“His best quality is he’s durable and he gets better as the fight goes on. I’m faster, I’m stronger, I’m better than him everywhere. But that doesn’t necessarily always get you the win in mixed martial arts. This is a game of millimeters and an opportunity of seconds. Anything can happen in there. But he didn’t want this fight. His coach didn’t want the fight. Took them probably a month to sign the contract. He knows what’s up. I’m not Tony Kelley and Tony Kelley is the hardest fight he ever had. I’m the first legit guy inside the top 30.”
Jesse Arnett continued, “I’m the biggest puncher he’s been in there with. This is a hard fight for him. This is my fight to win. He’s good, he’s durable, I respect him. I like him a lot, he’s a really nice guy. However, this is mine to win. He’s only been finished once by submission. I want to knock him out, I want to TKO him, and I’m going to do it inside fifteen minutes. He gets dropped with left hands easy and I’m not that last guy he fought by a long shot.”
