Washington — Justin Gaethje entered UFC Freedom 250 at the White House on Sunday at times a six to one underdog, admitting that he knew full well it was his last shot at the undisputed UFC lightweight championship.
With everything, very much his career and his legacy, on the line, Gaethje put a beating on Ilia Topuria unlike “El Matador,” the that point undefeated, had ever seen.
It was a rough fight, another classic in a career comprised almost entirely of them, and as Gaethje noted following the event, “I wouldn’t recommend this to my enemy.”
“We are some of the toughest people on this earth. Mentally, physically, all the guys up here, all the guys that lost tonight,” Gaethje (28-5), newly crowned as the undisputed champ, stated. “And me specifically, I said it from day one, I’m a promoter’s wet dream. And I proved it tonight.”
He’s won two interim titles, the UFC’s symbolic “BMF” belt, and now holds undisputed gold, unifying the belt with his win over Topuria. Gaethje also holds 17 post-fight bonuses in 16 UFC fights, an unthinkable number. Yet he was also willing to give the devil, or at least Ilia Topuria, his due.
“He’s very good, my liver still hurts right now. Those body shots were crazy.” Asked what went wrong for the Spanish-Georgian fighter, “when he didn’t get the finish at the end of the second round, I think it really took his spirit,” Gaethje suggested. “I said it in the press conference leading up, he really backed himself into the corner saying he was going to be so dominant.”
Topuria had actually predicted a first-round finish, and had his best round in the second. He was able to mount Gaethje, and attempted several submissions by the end of the frame. It was all downhill from there, and Topuria’s spirit appeared broken between rounds, though Gaethje isn’t so sure.
“I never thought he was broken because he was so dangerous the whole time, but in the third round when I started landing those jabs, when he starting fighting on his back foot, I knew something was different.”
At 37, Gaethje is getting up there for the lightweight division. He’s said in the past that retirement would come down to the number of wars he’s in. He’s been in some of the UFC’s most memorable, but promised his mother he wouldn’t make any decisions about retirement on the night of the fight.
“I said I wouldn’t even talk about it to her, I promised her. So I’m going to enjoy this win,” he stated.
The trials and tribulations in Gaethje’s career, with title fight losses against Khabib Nurmagomedov, Charles Oliveira, and Max Holloway, made Sunday night at the White House all the sweeter, he later allowed.
“Absolutely. I think those experiences are why I fought so perfect tonight. And then the Max Holloway knockout is what makes this win so much more special,” said Gaethje. “I was counted out so bad. 16 fights, I’ve been the underdog at least 11 or 12 times in the UFC. Every single fight almost. And I’m 9-2 as the underdog, so I love being in this position.”
Later, he’d point out that he’d predicted his performance “to be some like some miracle on ice stuff.”
“I’m so happy, so happy to put my country in such a good light. I’m from the middle of nowhere here, in Southeast Arizona. And yeah, I don’t know. America, f*ck yeah. Let’s go.”
Watch the full UFC Freedom 250 post-fight press conference above.
