Justin Gaethje’s unforgettable journey came full circle at UFC Freedom 250 on Sunday night as he captured the undisputed lightweight title with a corner stoppage victory over Ilia Topuria in Washington, D.C.
A bloody war
Gaethje set the tone early, attacking with relentless pressure and landing clean power shots against the heavily favored champion.
Topuria answered back in the second round, hurting Gaethje with body shots and nearly securing a finish, but the challenger survived the danger. Just as we suspected, Gaethje was able to survive Ilia’s biggest shots.
The fight shifted in Gaethje’s favor from there. As Topuria began to fade, Gaethje piled up damage, dropped the champion, and repeatedly connected with heavy punches that left Topuria’s face badly swollen and bleeding.
After concerns over Topuria’s vision surfaced between rounds, the bout continued into the fourth. Gaethje kept pouring on punishment, and before the fifth round began, Topuria’s corner stopped the fight.
Post fight interview
The win improves Gaethje’s record to 28-5 and finally gives him the undisputed UFC lightweight championship after years of near misses. Topuria falls to 17-1, suffering the first defeat of his professional career.
After the fight, Gaethje was all class and national pride. He mirrored his role as a 6-1 underdog to the plight of America during the war of independence.
After the fight, Gaethje made clear that he does not think Ilia deserves a rematch.
“He’s in the hospital right now, and I’m not… I made him quit on the stool.”
“He’s such a pretty boy that he was so concerned about the blood, immediately. He started touching it over and over.”
The most likely next contender at lightweight will probably be Arman Tsarukhyan. And something tells me that Gaethje will also be a massive underdog in that fight.