Justin Gaethje went out there last night and fought Rafael Fiziev in a fascinating short notice bout – and in the end, he came away with the victory that got him back on track in the UFC‘s lightweight division.
While it’s easy to put this down to Fiziev not having enough time to prepare, we think that’s unfair. These two men have fought before, Fiziev tends to stay in shape all year round, and he came in with a completely different gameplan in order to try and tie their series up at 1-1.
At this point, with Justin Gaethje now being 36 years of age, we think the topic of conversation needs to change. While he may be a really fun fighter to watch, we also don’t think he’s given enough credit for just how technical he is and how enjoyable it is to see him fight.
Give Justin Gaethje his flowers
This man is the definition of an absolute warrior. He puts it all on the line in the name of entertaining the fans, and he achieves that goal every single time. No, he hasn’t been an undisputed world champion in the UFC, but that isn’t a necessary marker for success. He is so unbelievably tough, durable and skilled, to the point where he even has a high quality side of him that we haven’t seen much of at all – his wrestling.
We aren’t here to suggest that he needs to get the next title shot, because there’s an excellent chance that Ilia Topuria will be the next man up for Islam Makhachev. In equal measure, though, we don’t think too many people would be annoyed if ‘The Highlight’ got the call.
Justin Gaethje refuses to give in and will always go out on his shield, and we can’t tell you how much respect we have for him because of that.
