Justin Ledet is preparing to make his second UFC appearance this Saturday at UFC Fight Night 99, but there was an event that he wanted to check out that nearly caused the heavyweight to delay his next bout.
“I almost declined this fight because the fights (Andre Ward/Sergey Kovalev) were on the same day,” Ledet told MMA Junkie. “Last fight I fought was when ‘GGG’ (Gennady Golovkin) and Kell Brook was on, and I was in the back green room and they had the (UFC) fight going on in the arena – and I was like, ‘Hey, man, put that “GGG” fight on!’ They were like, ‘Huh?’ I almost didn’t take this fight because of that reason. But I’m going to try my best (to watch it).”
Huge boxing fight or not, Ledet did have one truly great reason for taking the fight against Mark Godbeer this Saturday.
“I’ve got to pay bills, man,” Ledet said. “I lost my job earlier in the year, so I’ve just been living off these fight paychecks. It’s been a rough road. When I took the UFC debut, (expletive), my (bank) account was on negative. It’s a big thing trying to pay the bills as a full-time fighter, and I’ve just got to roll with the punches. It’s a journey. You have ups and downs, but at the end of the day you’ve just got to keep pushing. That’s why I think I’ve survived so long in the fight game, because that’s what I know how to do – whether it’s in life or in the ring. I just keep pushing forward, keep trying to fight every day, all day.”
UFC Fight Night 99 takes place on Saturday, November 19 from the SSE Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland with Gegard Mousasi and Uriah Hall headlining.
