Justin Gaethje did not deliver a back-and-forth battle as planned, but he quite simply put James Vick to sleep quickly in the main event of UFC Lincoln
After his first opponent, Al Iaquinta, withdrew Justin Gaethje was in need of a new opponent for his main event bout at UFC Lincoln, a spot that his new opponent James Vick was happy to fill. On Saturday, the two met in a scheduled five-round contest. Gaethje looked to break a two-fight skid and Vick looked for extend his winning streak to five.
Justin Gaethje entered the Octagon with a large fanbase and plenty of hype surrounding his dominance of WSOF and 17-0 record. The main cause of the fanfare was Gaethje all-or-nothing style that resulted in many memorable matches. His change of promotion did not make a difference in the way Gaethje approached fights, as the lightweight delivered a back-and-forth fight of the year against Michael Johnson in his promotional debut. Since then, however, Gaethje is 0-2 against Eddie Alvarez and Dustin Poirier.
James Vick has been excellent since joining the UFC after TUF 15. A 5-0 run was highlighted by a submission over Jake Mathews. The Texan received a step up in competition in the form of Beneil Dariush, but was knocked out and was forced to work his way back to the top 10. Vick then rattled off four wins in a row, three of which were stoppages, capped off by a victory over Francisco Trinaldo.
Gaethje pressed the action early and Vick answered with a kick to keep the distance. Gaethje pressed again and again Vick threw a front kick to move him back. Gaethje continued to press and Vick kept going to kicks until Gaethje jumped in with a crushing right hook that leveled Vick and brought a stop to the fight.
Winner: Justin Gaethje by KO in Round 1 (1:27)
