[ambient traffic noise]
>> Eric: I've got
a quick question.
Did Dominick Cruz
have a temperature?
Because if he did, I want him
to know, it's not the 'Rona,
it's his legacy
going up in flames.
>> I'm, like, worried that
they're gonna catch a booger.
Like, push it back to my brain.
So, I'm like trying
to make sure,
like, my nose is clear
of any extra stuff.
[giggling]
But I'm glad that they're
doing it, you know.
It'll give us peace of mind, so.
>> Flew in today with the team.
It's just-- it's a little
different because, you know,
everybody's got their mask on.
I mean, I'm getting blood
drawn before my fight.
You know, see this finger.
[laughing]
It's a peace!
[crowd chatter]
>> Charles: Then carbohydrates
after weigh-ins,
sweet potato, rice, pasta.
What's your preference?
>> Sweet potato, rice,
and pasta.
> Sweet. A little bit
of everything. I got you.
>> A bit of everything.
>> Alright, I'll have it ready.
>> That excites me.
Now you're getting me pumped up.
>> There you go.
That's what we do.
>> Talking about food.
Cutting weight on a plane
is never fun, you know.
And you're just--I'm spraying
everything with antibacterial.
I got a lot of good weight cut
at my house, so it was nice.
What's up, guys.
>> Hi, man.
>> See ya.
So, it was nice to be able
to get the weight cut
done at my house, you know,
instead of having to be here
in this hotel room.
If I could just show up-- Henry
shows up to my front yard
and I just [bleep] him up
in my front yard.
That would be ideal.
But can't do that.
Yeah, that'd be a lot better.
But oh well.
This arena will work.
>> We'll get ahold of you, let
you know what's going on.
>> Okay.
>> We'll let you know.
>> Check in straight ahead.
>> Eric: Saturday.
>> Dominick: Come on.
[bleep]
>> I thought that was you.
Don't sleep on Cejudo.
Says he's gonna sleep Cejudo?
Woo, good thing his coach
is a first responder
because tell him to bring a N95
mask and an oxygen tank.
[laughing]
[radio playing]
>> Let's go.
Play ball.
Yeah, what's up, guys.
We're just getting
ready for practice.
Got me and my crew.
Let's go.
>> Get some killing.
[chatter]
>> Here we are, social
distancing from everybody.
We got the people
necessary for UFC 249.
My team's here. Crew.
Let's [bleep] go!
Wait for Coach Eddie.
Coach Eddie just
literally just got here.
Full team here.
We got the full squad.
>> Eddie:
>> Yes, sir.
>> I'm playing chess.
Me and my son play every day.
I [bleep] destroy him.
I know he's only 8.
I know he's only 8.
He's good, man!
I'm just being real.
>> Tony: We're here to take
care of business, man.
Team multiple dreams.
I'd love to hang out with you
guys, but we gotta get real.
UFC 249 coming at you
harder than a D'Arce.
>> Randy: So yeah, just come
to me when you're starting
to set things up
back of house area,
especially the mixed zones
that we were talking about.
But there is plenty of space.
There are no fans.
So, we do have space to
push our stuff around
and kind of figure out
where everything goes.
>> Let's do a walkthrough
and keep our distance.
[chains clinking]
>> Randy: Normally we
run a really tight ship.
We come in, we set our show
up in a matter of hours,
and we're ready to go.
This one, with social
distancing in mind,
and trying to keep as few
people on site as possible,
in setting everything up,
we spread our load-out
over the course of an entire
24-hour period.
Starting with this morning,
bringing in the rigging first.
They're all here by themselves.
It's going slow, but that's
what it's meant to when
you've got half the number of
crew that you normally bring in.
>> Going up!
>> Randy: And the next
one will be lighting.
The octagon will be tomorrow.
So, by the end of
the day tomorrow,
we'll have the whole
show set up,
which we normally can
do in less than a day.
>> You look good!
Just square up the basket!
>> Randy: This is huge
for the sporting world.
Showing what we can do, and how
we can produce a show,
safely for both the crew,
the athletes, you know,
will only lead to more
organizations
being able to do the same thing.
Just being able to go
through all these steps
and get through this process
that no one's done before.
So, we're laying the groundwork.
At the end of the day,
people are looking to us
to have a successful show,
and come away with this
with a good framework of how
we can continue to do this
for the foreseeable future
right now.
>> This way.
>> Reporter #1:
We know that you prepare
for several guys at once.
You know, you're not just
focusing on one person,
but are there any particular
tweaks or changes
that you're making
specifically for Justin?
>> Absolutely not.
I'm not worried about
what they're doing.
I watched a lot of films.
He's got a lot of holes
in his game.
He's a tough game opponent, man.
But the guy's that he fought,
he got my leftovers,
and he went over there
and he finished them,
but they were already broken.
Anytime I've ever
fought an opponent,
they just break mentally, and
physically, and spiritually--
they just can't--they just can't
handle inside that octagon.
Gaethje's not gonna be anything
different from these guys.
I'm not gonna hold back.
Punches, knees,
kicks, and elbows.
I'm bringing out the
blades for this fight.
>> Reporter #2: Going against
a guy like Tony Ferguson,
are you concerned at all
about the discipline
will go out the window?
Do you think this will be
an extra difficult challenge
to stay disciplined in there?
>> Justin: I don't know, uh.
It's a puzzle.
And I'm excited to go out
there and use my skillset
that I have been working
on my whole life
to try and figure out
this puzzle.
And he has to not get hit.
>> Reporter #3: The winner
of your fight on Saturday
will likely get
a title shot next.
Does that add any
extra motivation
for what you're trying
to do on Saturday?
>> To be honest,
I don't worry about--
I don't worry about
that anymore.
What I'm focused on is
this fight on Saturday.
What is-- What next,
I don't know.
>> Have a good day.
>> You too.
>> Reporter #4: How do
you deal with, you know,
Francis being a counter-fighter,
being careful about
attacking him
because he has shown
that tendency before
to where he'll sit
back a little bit?
>> First things first,
let me put it like this.
I'm here because I
want to be a champion.
And after that, I wanna
stay champion, so.
This Saturday,
go in the octagon,
knock Francis out.
And then walk away and get my
hands raised up to another one.
>> We got in yesterday.
>> Reporter #5: So, you get
to run this one back again.
Tell us how excited
are you for this fight,
and the fact you got
the win the first time?
>> It's been awhile
since we fought.
You know, Cowboy's
a totally different fighter.
Actually, we're pretty
good friends now.
We fought way back--
7 years ago, probably.
When you beat somebody,
it's always there in
the back of their head.
You know, no matter what, I
don't care how many fights
you have past that,
your loss is a loss.
The guy who he is, he's just
ready to fight and I love that.
Same thing with me,
I'm ready to fight anytime,
any place, anywhere.
It's gonna be a striking match
that the world wants to see,
and that's what I'm excited
to go out there and do.
>> Reporter #6:
Every division, they say,
"I wanna be the Cowboy Cerrone
of this division.
I wanna fight, you know,
5, 6 times a year."
>> It's funny they say that
until it's time to do it.
That's the funny thing.
Everyone wants to do it.
Like, "I wanna be like that!
I wanna fight."
UFC calls them, and they're
like, "Ooh, who?
Ah, next week, yeah [bleep]."
So, that's the funny thing.
But when the UFC called me,
I didn't even know
who I was fighting.
They said, "May 9th."
I said, "[bleep] yeah,
let's go."
So, and that's-- it's hard.
Everyone wants to
do Cowboy [bleep]
until it's time to do
Cowboy [bleep].
So, came down to Jacksonville
to get in a backyard fight.
Here I am.
>> Reporter #7: How does
this story end for you?
You get to fight
one another now.
If you were to write
this story right now,
how you want it to play out
perfectly on Saturday night,
what does it look like?
>> You know, people a lot of
times talk about the journey.
To me, it's a lot of times,
it's about destiny.
And you know,
the destination is--
the overall objective is
to get your hand raised.
So, that's what I envision.
And you know, when I'm
firing at all cylinders,
I don't think there's any man,
any human being on earth
that could beat me.
>> Reporter #8: Do you
feel that coming back
after more than three years,
that your legacy,
you are the greatest in
the bantamweight division?
>> Not only have I beaten pretty
much every single guy
that he's beaten, but I
beat them for titles,
and other than Marlon Moraes,
I've definitely had
a lot more title fights,
and a lot more time in
that octagon than him.
All that stuff added up,
it's ring generalship.
It's understanding where to be.
It's understanding
how to use the time.
It's understanding
how to use the fight
in every single minute
and every single second
of every single round.
And that's what I do very well.
>> Thank you, Dominick!
>> Thank you, guys.
Have a good day.
>> Thank you.
[dramatic theme music]
♪♪
