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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Farah Hannoun and John Morgan

Jay Jay Wilson before Bellator 238 fight: ‘I’m going to die, or he’s going to die’

LOS ANGELES – Jay Jay Wilson goes into his fights with some intense thoughts.

For this one at Bellator 238? Kill or be killed.

The young Kiwi takes on Mario Navarro (4-5 MMA, 1-3 BMMA) this Saturday at The Forum in nearby Inglewood.

Wilson (4-0 MMA, 3-0 BMMA) has competed for less than a round combined in all four of his pro MMA wins, attributing his fast finishes to his mentality.

“I go in there thinking … my mindset before I go into the ring is I’m going to die, or he’s going to die, and I want to go to my family,” Wilson told MMA Junkie on Wednesday. “I’m going home. That’s my mindset, so that’s why I go out there with killer instincts.”

He takes on a more experienced opponent in Navarro, but he’s expecting the outcome to be the same as every fight. It’s a trend he hopes to make a career out of.

“I finish this guy,” Wilson said. “I get this guy out of the first round. I go out there, if I catch him on my feet, I catch him on my feet. If not, I’m going to put him down and do what I do best.

“I’m really happy for all my success since I’m so young right now. I’m 22 years old, and I’m coming out and finishing these guys in the first two minutes. I want to keep this train rolling, I want to keep this going all the way for the rest of my career. I want every fight to go like this. I want to go out there right from the beginning, I want to try and finish the fight.”

Representing a new wave of fighters from New Zealand, Wilson can only hope to emulate UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya by being active and fighting on a regular basis.

“So right now, I’m not thinking about contending or getting a title or anything,” Wilson said. “Right now, I just want to fight. That’s a thing I took from Israel Adesanya is just fight. I watched him have eight fights in one week, and here I am having eight fights in a year.”

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