Justin Gonzales is ‘Coming for it all’ ahead of vacant featherweight title fight at LFA 84 on July 10
Justin Gonzales expects a phone call after fighting for the vacant LFA featherweight title at LFA 84 on July 10.
Gonzales faces Jake Childers in the event’s headliner, the first of four LFA cards slated for July at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Coming off a win on Dana White’s Contender Series in June 2019, the UFC is fresh on his mind.
Gonzales is open minded and anticipates to hear from a number of major promotions if victorious in July.
“There’s levels to this man, I’m a beast. I’m f******g coming for it all,” Gonzales said.
“I would love to fight for the UFC. I would love to fight for Bellator, I mean, ONE, what’s up? Dude, let’s talk. PFL, I like that million dollar tournament. That sounds really interesting, there’s some tough guys in that tournament. It’s not any one promotion or bust.”
Gonzales vs. Childers
If Gonzales is one win away from a call up, Jake Childers is standing in the way. Childers is no easy task with a perfect record of 8-0. Childers is a proven finisher, only going to a decision twice in his career.
Gonzales knows a thing or two about being unbeaten with a 10-0 resume of his own. Gonzalez is known for grinding out his opponents with six wins by unanimous decision.
“He’s a dangerous opponent, so I got to respect his abilities and what he’s capable of doing,” Gonzales said. “He’s never fought someone like me and he’s going to realize and maybe he should have been a little more challenged before he took this fight.”
Gonzales’ bout with Childers comes after he was scheduled to fight Jonas Bilharinho for the strap at LFA 85 on April 3. The event was canceled due to the COVID 19-pandemic.
Gonzales went through three different opponents that time, including current UFC fighter Steve Garcia. Split between Garcia and Bilharinho was Childers.
“I try not to focus too much on what they’re doing,” Gonzales said. “I try to make it my fight and they are going to have to fight my fight, it’s really difficult not to.”
Coming close
Gonzales came about as close to a UFC contract as he could. In his most recent outing, the 29-year-old defeated Zach Zane by unanimous decision on Dana White’s Contender Series in June 2019.
Gonzales did not earn a UFC contract, but received some positive feedback from the promotion. Over a year later, “J-Train” is trying to grab the UFC’s attention once again.
“I’m sitting here 10-0, largely unchallenged. There have been a couple fights that you can say there were tough fights, but man, I’m dominating everybody in front of me,” Gonzales said. “They [UFC] did invite me back. They told me last season, ‘Hey man, we would love to have you back. Maybe we can do some stuff a little different, see what we can do about getting you that contract.’”
Gonzales is not looking too far ahead. His fight camp against Childers is shorter than usual, but the Colorado resident is ready to enter the LFA cage for the first time.
Nothing is guaranteed, especially a call up. But if Gonzales can continue his unbeaten streak, the phone call he is expecting may come sooner rather than later.
“Until after this fight, I handle business, it’s kind of we’ll see what happens,” Gonzales said. “I try to just take one fight at a time, hopefully go beat this dude up, knock him out, get in, get out. Like I said, get that check and on to the next one.”
