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The "what if" often comes up in MMA, and it was present in the main event of UFC Freedom 250.
On Sunday, Justin Gaethje (28-5 MMA, 11-5 UFC) pulled off a big upset, taking the undefeated record along with the UFC lightweight championship from Ilia Topuria (17-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC). Gaethje battered Topuria over the course of a 20-minute back-and-forth. Topuria, who was bloodied and bruised, did not continue fighting after the fourth round, as his corner called off the fight.
It was a giant win for Gaethje but one he had to sweat, as the American was close to getting stopped when he was dropped by body punches in the second round. Gaethje's head coach, Trevor Wittman, believes Topuria made a big mistake by looking to submit Gaethje after getting the knockdown with body shots.
“The game plan was to use our footwork, use the open foot to dig outside, also use left angles when we're coming into pressure just because when he starts going back like that [with his arm extended], it's very dangerous, very dangerous," Wittman told UFC commenator Daniel Cormier. "If you open up like this [moves to the left], he's very good at opening the shoulder and finding hooks. So the game plan was to pull him in, not use low kicks at the beginning – like high kicks and things like that, just to make him respect and try to keep his power hand. In most of his fights where he gets tired, he starts to go from his point where he's here to here [moves side to side]. Once he's here, it's like a jabbing war. Once I'd seen him go to the rear leg, we adjusted to that.
"That heat, that humidity. Justin is a gangster. Overcoming those body shots, I think Ilia made a big mistake there. I think that was a big mistake on his part, going to the ground, because Justin was hurting really bad. Justin is a durable guy. He's very smart in these situations. He knows when to take breaks. There's time in the fight in, like, the third and fourth rounds where I was like, 'Stop taking breaks here. You're in a fight.' But easier said than done. But yeah, I think Justin Gaethje, no one deserves it more than him in this platform. How many times has he fought for the title and just put it up on a pedestal? Just go out there and fight."
With this victory, Gaethje claimed undisputed UFC gold at 37. He entered the fight off back-to-back wins over Rafael Fiziev and Paddy Pimblett. Gaethje had lost two prior attempts at getting the belt: He came up short in unifying the belt as interim champion against Khabib Nurmagomedov in 2020 and was submitted in a vacant title fight against Charles Oliveira in 2022.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Justin Gaethje's coach: Ilia Topuria made 'big mistake' in defeat
Continue reading...
On Sunday, Justin Gaethje (28-5 MMA, 11-5 UFC) pulled off a big upset, taking the undefeated record along with the UFC lightweight championship from Ilia Topuria (17-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC). Gaethje battered Topuria over the course of a 20-minute back-and-forth. Topuria, who was bloodied and bruised, did not continue fighting after the fourth round, as his corner called off the fight.
It was a giant win for Gaethje but one he had to sweat, as the American was close to getting stopped when he was dropped by body punches in the second round. Gaethje's head coach, Trevor Wittman, believes Topuria made a big mistake by looking to submit Gaethje after getting the knockdown with body shots.
“The game plan was to use our footwork, use the open foot to dig outside, also use left angles when we're coming into pressure just because when he starts going back like that [with his arm extended], it's very dangerous, very dangerous," Wittman told UFC commenator Daniel Cormier. "If you open up like this [moves to the left], he's very good at opening the shoulder and finding hooks. So the game plan was to pull him in, not use low kicks at the beginning – like high kicks and things like that, just to make him respect and try to keep his power hand. In most of his fights where he gets tired, he starts to go from his point where he's here to here [moves side to side]. Once he's here, it's like a jabbing war. Once I'd seen him go to the rear leg, we adjusted to that.
"That heat, that humidity. Justin is a gangster. Overcoming those body shots, I think Ilia made a big mistake there. I think that was a big mistake on his part, going to the ground, because Justin was hurting really bad. Justin is a durable guy. He's very smart in these situations. He knows when to take breaks. There's time in the fight in, like, the third and fourth rounds where I was like, 'Stop taking breaks here. You're in a fight.' But easier said than done. But yeah, I think Justin Gaethje, no one deserves it more than him in this platform. How many times has he fought for the title and just put it up on a pedestal? Just go out there and fight."
With this victory, Gaethje claimed undisputed UFC gold at 37. He entered the fight off back-to-back wins over Rafael Fiziev and Paddy Pimblett. Gaethje had lost two prior attempts at getting the belt: He came up short in unifying the belt as interim champion against Khabib Nurmagomedov in 2020 and was submitted in a vacant title fight against Charles Oliveira in 2022.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Justin Gaethje's coach: Ilia Topuria made 'big mistake' in defeat
Continue reading...
