The top-ranked welterweight is also considering adding a koi pond to his log cabin home, just to keep up with expectations.
At this point anyone who counts themselves among the UFC faithful has probably spent nearly as many hours watching that Jose Cuervo commercial featuring Justin Gaethje and Michael Chiesa as it sounds like the fighters spent making it. But for those who want to know just how the sausage is made, Chiesa recently took to the MMA Hour to offer a peak behind the curtain.
Alongside revealing that the shoot took place in 100+ degree weather – requiring Chiesa to repeatedly remove his sweater to get it dried out from constant sweating – the top-ranked welterweight also talked about what it was like to spend so much time locking eyes with lightweight contender Justin Gaethje. To hear him tell it, the ‘Highlight’ isn’t someone he’d want to have to face down on his way to the Octagon (transcript via MMA Fighting).
“It wasn’t super hard to do because, for one, it was a ‘be yourself’ type of commercial,” Chiesa said of the shoot. “It’s not like I had to act and study this huge long script. And I had a great dance partner. I mean, working with Justin Gaethje that day, we had a lot of fun, man. And I’ve got to say, having to stare down that guy for hours upon hours — every time I had to lock eyes with him, I’m like, ‘I feel bad for these guys that have to fight him,’ because he’s a stone-cold killer, man. He’s a stone-cold killer. But I had a blast working with him.”
But if the overall feeling of filming the commercial was one of fun and good times, it has come with its downsides. Namely friends and family asking if the swank Los Angeles home where the commercial was filmed really belongs to the longtime Sikjitsu fighter. It doesn’t, but that doesn’t mean the ‘Maverick’ hasn’t taken a few ideas home from the shoot.
“Actually, I have people that are friends of mine that have never been to my house that are like, ‘Is it really your house?’ I wish,” Chiesa said with a laugh.
“I mean, I wish, but I also like my log cabin a lot, so if I had to choose between the two, I’d probably take my log cabin over that house. But I do feel like, after the commercial, it would be funny if I did put a koi pond in, because everybody asks about the koi pond.”
Chiesa is currently riding back to back losses, following his most recent defeat at the hands of rising prospect Sean Brady. No word on just when he might be back in the Octagon just yet, but for the moment it sounds like he’s at least finding fun and success working in front of the camera outside of it.