Former UFC fighter James Vick claims he'll head into upcoming Karate Combat debut with "kill or be killed mentality"

Former UFC fighter James Vick is crossing over from the MMA cage into the Karate Combat pit.

Vick, a UFC veteran of 14 fights, will square off against Jorge Perez in his professional karate debut on Saturday, October 29. Overcome with the thrill of his new venture, Vick revealed that he's bringing a "kill or be killed" mentality to the fight.

Check out James Vick's post below:

But Vick is aware that his opponent could enter the contest with a similar approach. With that in mind, the MMA veteran believes it could lead to a short night of action. Previewing his upcoming bout in a press release obtained by Sportskeeda MMA from Karate Combat, Vick said:

"I think both of us come to kill or be killed and I want that bonus money as well. It's gonna be exciting, we’re not going to sit back and play it safe."

Vick also shared what he's learned from scouting his Dominican counterpart. The way he sees it, fans should be in for a treat as Perez rarely goes the distance:

"I've watched his fights... He's athletic, he's tough. [In Karate Combat] he’s got two wins by KO and two losses by KO, so he’s someone who can finish the fight and he’s someone who can be finished. I don’t think this goes to decision."

---

James Vick names Stephen Thompson, Lyoto Machida as karate role models

James Vick revealed that he's always been a huge fan of karate, thanks in large part to UFC superstars Stephen 'Wonderboy' Thompson and Lyoto Machida.

He added that the way Thompson and Machida incorporated karate into their fighting styles made him fall in love with the martial art:

"I really love karate. I was always a huge ‘Wonderboy’ [Stephen Thompson] fan. Him and guys like Lyoto Machida seemed to fight with a style which had them taking the least amount of damage. That’s what first sparked my interest in training karate. I felt that style would be good for me because I’m kind of a natural counter-puncher, so I started training and really just fell in love with it."

Check out James Vick's training video below:

On top of that, Vick mentioned that he's always been fond of karate as a kid. He mentioned Jean Claude Van Damme's 1988 action classic Bloodsport as one of his favorite movies growing up.