James Vick's unexpected problem? Arms almost too long to submit fellow lightweights

HOUSTON – At 6-3 tall man James Vick has occasionally noticed a problem that most of his fellow lightweights don’t have to deal with.

Vick (10-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC), who rebounded from his first career loss to submit Abel Trujillo (15-7 MMA, 6-3 UFC) at Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 104 event, almost didn’t get the fight-ending D’Arce choke. In fact it took a few tries.

Vick, who picked up the win in an FS1-televised main-card bout at Houston’s Toyota Center, admitted he was surprised Trujillo kept surviving the attempts.

“I just couldn’t believe he got out of it, to be honest with you,” the 29-year-old Texas told MMAjunkie after his home-state win. “He did the right defense. He tried to flatten out his chest and flatten himself out, but honestly, it sounds weird, but I had it too deep.

“Sometimes I have problems. My arms so long that when I fight guys in my weight class, I have a problem adjusting it. I guess I need to drill that a little more. But I thought I maybe shot the arm a little too deep because I was looking and I was squeezing. I could see how high my forearm was up, and I felt like I needed to pull it down a little bit, and I just didn’t adjust it in time.”

Persistence paid off, though, and with another effort, he ultimately secured the choke 49 seconds into the third round.

“I heard him gurgling and making these weird noises, and I knew I wasn’t letting go of it,” he said. “He was done.”

Prior to the Trujillo win, Vick’s sterling 9-0 start to his pro career hit a roadblock when he suffered a knockout loss to Beneil Dariush. Now back in the win column, what’s next? Vick said he just wants ranked opponents, whoever they may be. But he’d definitely like a spot on the UFC 211 pay-per-view main card, which takes place May 13 in Dallas.

“I want to make sure I’m getting on it, period,” he said. “I would like to fight someone in the top 15. I want to move up. My goal is to be a world champion. I got my chance last time (against Dariush), and I blew it. Now I’m going to redeem myself. I know I’m one of the best fighters in the world. I know I can contend with these guys, and I would love to fight someone in the top 10 or top 15. …

“Above all, I want to be on the (UFC 211) card for sure.”

For more on UFC Fight Night 104, check out the UFC Events section of the site.