Justin
Gaethje has a well-earned reputation as one of the most
exciting fighters in the UFC.
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He once again delivered in that regard in the UFC 286
co-main event, earning a $50,000 “Fight of the Night” bonus check
for his majority decision triumph over Rafael
Fiziev at the O2 Arena in London on Saturday. While the fight
featured plenty of entertaining striking exchanges, it wasn’t
necessarily the all-out slugfest that Gaethje has occasionally been
involved with throughout his professional tenure. For that, “The
Highlight” is grateful.
“I look pretty good, so I did a good job,” Gaethe said at the UFC
286 post-fight press conference. “The key is not to get hit, and I
did a good job at that. I took a couple of shots. I say two or
three to the head. I asked and prayed that neither of us sustained
chronic injury.”
During his post-fight interview in the Octagon, Gaethje hinted that
his time in the sport might be limited. While he hasn’t set an
expiration date on his career, the former World Series of Fighting
champion doesn’t want to be someone who stays past his welcome.
“It’s [retirement] not been in my mind. It’s the fact of the
matter, I’m 34 years old,” Gaethje said. “I’m gonna take the fights
that I need to take to get to the position that I want to be.
There’s countless examples of reasons not to go longer than you
should in this sport. I’ll probably refuse to do that.”
The triumph over Fiziev was a slow burn. The Tiger Muay Thai
standout was quicker to the punch than Gaethje early in the fight,
but that gradually changed as the bout progressed. By Round 3,
Gaethje was battering his adversary with repeated jabs and
uppercuts.
“He was one of the fastest [opponents I’ve faced], probably second
to Michael
Johnson. I was in such control of my emotions in there. I felt
nothing,” Gaethje said. “He hit me really hard, probably in the
first round with a big right hand, that one rocked me. But outside
of that, I did such a good job at controlling the fight.”
By the time the fight concluded, Fiziev’s face was a bloody mask, a
fact that wasn’t lost on Gaethje.
“My coach told me. I heard him saying, ‘Stay on the jab.’ Once I
landed the first three, I couldn’t believe how clean I was
landing,” Gaethje said. “There’s different kind of shots that you
land in there. When you feel the full force of energy go in direct
lines through their head, it’s a different shot. That’s what I was
feeling.
“He wanted to taste my blood, but unfortunately he was drowning in
his blood. I’m happy about that.”
In recent years, lightweight has been a division that is difficult
to break into the upper echelon of the rankings because the weight
class’ old guard has been so successful. Gaethje took a chance by
facing a lower ranked foe, and now he has his sights set on one
final championship run.
“I did what I had to do,” Gaethje said. “I fought someone below me,
and I 100 percent believe that I deserve to fight someone ranked in
front of me. The loser of the [Charles] Oliveira-[Beneil] Dariush
fight. I rather not fight Dariush, I love that dude. I do believe
he’s going to beat Oliveira. I fought like a complete idiot when I
fought Oliveira, so I would love to have that fight back, but
Dustin [Poirier] is as good of an option.”