Lightweight contender James Vick opens up about facing Justin Gaethje and what’s at stake this weekend when the two collide at UFC Lincoln.

James Vick understands the importance of his matchup with Justin Gaethje on Saturday night at UFC Lincoln.

In a sport where competitors undersell how crucial individual contests may be and downplay what is at stake when the step into the cage more often than naught, the lightweight hopeful who has been lobbying for a chance to face a top name for the last 18 months recognizes that how he performs this weekend has the potential to dictate the direction his career takes from here on out.

“This is my chance and this is my life right here,” said Vick, speaking with FanSided last week prior to departing for “The Cornhusker State,” where he meets Gaethje in Saturday night’s main event at Pinnacle Bank Arena. “My life depends on this fight 100 percent.

“This is either one of many main events or the one and only main event I get, so I have to go in there, I have to perform and I have to win this fight. I have to finish this guy, which I know the finish is going to come because the way that he fights, he’s not going to accept being on the outside losing a decision, so he’s going to come in and take chances.”

Not only is this the main event opportunity that Vick has coveted for quite some time, but it’s a matchup he’s been chasing since Gaethje first arrived on the scene following a dominant run under the World Series of Fighting banner as well.

As he has explained many times over, Vick watched Gaethje’s debut victory over Michael Johnson and subsequent post-fight interview where he asked, “Who’s next? Who’s next? Where is my equal at?”

Vick picked up his phone and reached out to UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby, asking for the opportunity to show that he was the man to halt the newcomer’s 18-fight winning streak and introduce him to his equal inside the Octagon.

The next opportunity to share the cage with Gaethje went to Eddie Alvarez and the former lightweight champion became the first man to defeat “The Highlight,” while Vick went on to earn a second-round stoppage win over Joseph Duffy in November at UFC 217. He then picked up another win over Francisco Trinaldo in February before Gaethje returned in April and suffered his second straight stoppage loss, this time falling to Dustin Poirier in a home game at Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona, where he wrestled in state championships during his high school years.

After getting matched up with fellow finisher and Top 10 hopeful Paul Felder as part of the UFC Boise event in mid-July, opportunity knocked for Vick as a targeted matchup between Gaethje and Al Iaquinta fell through, opening the door for “The Texicutioner” to headline his first event opposite the man he’s been longing to fight.

“My goal is to be a world champion and whoever is in the way, they gotta get the hell out of the way,” said Vick, who swears Saturday’s contest isn’t personal, despite the fact that he and Gaethje have been trading verbal jabs since the fight was announced. “It’s like Napolean said, ‘I see only the objective; the obstacle must give way.’

“He’s got to get the hell out of the way or he’s going to get run over.”

The origin of the tension between the two goes back to Vick’s attempt to secure a bout with Gaethje following his debut win over Michael Johnson and Gaethje’s belief that the tall and rangy former Ultimate Fighter contestant isn’t on his level.

“He’s got to get the hell out of the way or he’s going to get run over.”

Whether it was said specifically, inferred from other comments or reached Vick via “the telephone game,” the assessment has stuck in his craw ever since and made the man from Mineral Wells, Texas who fights out of Temple Hills, Maryland even more eager to get in the Octagon with the former World Series of Fighting champion and prove that him wrong.

“I think he’s delusional if he doesn’t see me on his level,” Vick said of Gaethje’s comments. “You can say what you want about the competition level, but my whole career has been in the best organization in the world, the UFC, against the best fighters in the world.

“There may be a couple guys outside of this organization that have the skill set to be in the Top 10 that aren’t here, but as a whole, we by far have the best fighters, so to say I haven’t fought the level of competition and I’m not on this guy’s level, he’s really delusional.

“Surely, I really don’t think he believes that because if he does, it’s going to be a really short night for him come August 25th.”

Although Vick is quick to praise Gaethje’s toughness and heart, referring to him as “a warrior” and “a dog” numerous times, he believes the man he faces in Saturday’s final bout doesn’t have the skill set required to compete with him in the cage.

Many others have held that same belief and been proven wrong and even Vick acknowledges that there are times when someone with a lot of grit and heart will emerge victorious over a more skilled fighter, that’s not something he envisions happening this weekend in Nebraska, even if he ends up fighting Gaethje on his terms.

“The guy has a good chin – or he had a good chin; I don’t know how it is after the last couple fights” offered Vick, assessing his opponent and sharing his thoughts on how the matchup plays out. “He has world-class heart, he has a good chin and he’s a warrior. He’s not going to be broken. I definitely think those are the qualities that have gotten him to where he’s at right now.

“I have to move and not be stationary like he is, but at the end of the day, I’m probably not going to avoid (engaging him on his terms). I’m going to have to invite that and I’m fully aware and I’ve accepted that as my reality.

“This dude is willing to take three or four punches in the face to land one kick or one punch and that’s fine. I promise y’all that if it comes down to the fourth or fifth round and I’m losing that fight, you’re going to see who the real dog is. I’ll bite down on that mouthpiece and I’ll throw down. I’m fully prepared and if I have to fight him the way he fights, I’ll win that battle regardless.”

After months of lobbying for an opportunity like this, Vick is finally getting the opportunity to prove that he should be considered amongst the elite talents in the loaded lightweight division.

He’s headlining his first show and fighting a guy he’s been chasing since he first arrived in the UFC a little over a year ago.

“I promise y’all that if it comes down to the fourth or fifth round and I’m losing that fight, you’re going to see who the real dog is.”

Given the circumstances and what he’s acknowledged is at stake this weekend, it wouldn’t be unexpected if Vick were feeling a little added pressure or struggling to contain his emotions and energy at the moment.

But that isn’t the case. Not even a little bit.

“Pressure is for mentally weak people,” he said sharply and quickly. “I’ve never struggled with any pressure. I got into the Ultimate Fighter house after four fights. I had four professional fights and had been a pro for eight months and I got on the show. My skills weren’t half as good as most people in the house and I had way less experience, but I rose to the occasion because I noticed in there like I do everywhere that I’m mentally stronger than all these guys.

“I’ve never felt pressure,” he added. “I’m like a kid in a candy store walking out to that cage. I love this s***. I love being a fighter. I’m a Top 10 UFC fighter. I’m living my dream.”

As of right now, Saturday night is a dream come true.

Whether it remains that way on Sunday morning will be determined in the cage.