Jacob Kilburn Aims To Put On A Star Performance At Anthony Pettis FC on February 11
Anthony Pettis deemed Jacob Kilburn worthy of being the headliner at his first event against Lucas Alexander. While Kilburn is grateful for the opportunity, he also knows that he has the most deceiving record in the game. Thankfully, most promoters, fighters and fans know that Kilburn is far from what his record implies and that’s exactly what led him to headline Pettis’ debut event this week.
“I’ve got the resume; I’ve got highlights for days of me just knocking people dead,” Kilburn said. “I show up to fight, I’ll fight anybody on any amount of notice, and everybody knows that. I always come to perform. Doesn’t matter who I’m fighting, what weight class, what show, what amount of notice, what style of fighter; you’re guaranteed a fight and I’ve never been in a boring fight before.”
Jacob Kilburn makes his second appearance on the countdown of best finishes of 2019! This quick left lands him at #10! @IslandFightspic.twitter.com/i7dntx2qgc
The 26-year-old featherweight explains that it’s not always easy to put on the show he likes to, but people don’t pay to watch a fighter do just enough to win. If you’re fighting just to survive, don’t take a fight against Kilburn.
“It doesn’t matter who you are, where you come from, how big you are, what style you are, how fast you are, I’m going to find you and I’m going to touch you,” Kilburn said. “The cage is only so big; you can’t run forever. Some guys are in there to get wins and do a sport and I’m there to fight and that’s what I’m going to do. When they lock the cage doors there’s no getting away from it. You’re going to have to fight me.”
As if a Jacob Kilburn fight wasn’t exciting enough on its own, he is happy to close the chapter on a fight that was supposed to have happened two years ago. Fighting with an 8-5 record already doesn’t sit well with him, but a fighter passing on fighting him two years ago thinking he’s an easy target now has Kilburn seeing red.
“We were matched up to fight two years ago and his coaches pulled him from the fight because they said it wasn’t a smart fight at this time for him. He wasn’t ready for me,” Kilburn said. “Since then, I’ve gone on to train at American Top Team, the best, most successful gym in the world, and I’ve fought the best people in the world in the best promotions in the world and he’s continued to fight hand-picked opponents on the regional scene.”
Kilburn has been itching for a fight that goes into deep waters for a long time now and hasn’t gotten it. He’d be all in for being the featherweight version of Justin Gaethje or Robbie Lawler, but he hasn’t had the dance partners in recent memory for a “drag ‘em out” showdown to remember, and as ready as he is for one on Friday, he has little faith that opponent Alexander can hang.
“It’s unfortunate that it’s a main event because it’s probably going to be a 60-second fight,” Kilburn said. “I’ve got 15 minutes with him, but each round is five minutes and I don’t see any humanly way possible he makes it past five minutes locked in a cage with me. I don’t see anything he can do to hurt me and I’ve got numerous ways to hurt him.”
