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The best performance of Justin Gaethje’s career was not all wine and roses.
When Gaethje and his team remember their victory over Tony Ferguson at UFC 249 on Saturday, they will have plenty to be proud of, but there was a terrifying moment for Gaethje at the end of the second round when Ferguson wounded him with an uppercut right in the middle. Gaethje recovered and proceeded to dominate the rest of the fight on the way to a fifth-round finish, earning an interim lightweight for his efforts.
At the post-fight press conference, Gaethje was asked if he heard Ferguson allegedly scream after the second round that Gaethje was “Sucking air” a comment that would be more audible than usual given the nearly empty arena in which they were fighting due to coronavirus precautions.
Gaethje did not notice the observation until a reporter presented it to him, but he quickly rejected it because Ferguson was more exalted than anything else.
“I didn’t hear it, but it sounds like a false trust,” said Gaethje. “False trust won’t get you anywhere there. I believe in my hard work, I believe in my coaches, I believe in myself. That was not going to deter me. I control my thoughts and emotions. No one is in control of that, nobody. you can control that.
“He’s trying to mentalize himself.” I knew I was in trouble. He had just caught me with a good one, so maybe he thought I’d stop. But he discovered very quickly that there is no renunciation in me. I would be a fool if I thought I would. “
The win was Gaethje’s fourth in a row and he also earned a Night Fight and Night Performance bonus, bringing his fight night prize total to nine in just seven UFC appearances. He also added a UFC belt to his list of accolades that includes a three-year career as a Lightweight World Series Wrestling Champion.
No stranger to big fights, Gaethje felt good competing in a zero-noise crowd atmosphere.
“There was nothing different about that,” said Gaethje. “I just focus on what I can control and that’s not the crowd. I would have loved them to be there, I can’t imagine how loud they would have been. It was an incredible fight from what I’ve seen. But it was just pure reactions, working on peripherals my feet are amazing
“I have a great coach, Trevor (Witmann), we have been working together for nine years or probably more than that. We are honing my skills and you know, I am pretty good.”
Gaethje was also not surprised by Ferguson’s toughness. “El Cucuy” entered Saturday’s fight on a 12-fight winning streak since October 2013 and had never ended within the octagon. Even when Gaethje landed hay after hay, it didn’t seem like he was capable of taking down Ferguson.
When the fight was called off with less than two minutes remaining in the fifth round, Gaethje wasn’t expecting it.
“When they stopped him, I was very surprised,” said Gaethje. “Once it starts, it’s blurry to me. I’m a competitor, I’ve been competing since I was four years old. I’m a smug, I know how many people were watching. It makes me happy.
“I know how well I just made so many people feel. That feels great. Just pure rejoicing, just screaming. Not only in this country, but around the world, I get messages from around the world that say what my fans are like or whatever, but humans recognize the effort. I try my best every time and it feels good to share this feeling with as many people as I know I just did. ”
Whatever Ferguson had said to Gaethje during the fight, if anything, it was unlikely to have a major effect on “The Highlight” given his own self-assessment before his fights. Gaethje was viewed as underdog both by Ferguson’s record and by the fact that he stepped in on short notice to replace undisputed UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, who was unavailable to fight Ferguson due to travel restrictions on COVID-19.
That made it easier for Gaethje to step into the role of world beater he has worn so comfortably in the past.
“I don’t go there with any expectations,” said Gaethje. “I had none. I thought it was going to be faster, I thought it would be stronger, I thought it was going to hit much harder. I always tell myself that they are better than me and that makes me strive to be the best I can be, to perform at the best level.
“It feels great to be recognized as almost the best of all, well, not the best of all, but the best in the world right now. I can’t wait to meet the challenge that is Khabib. “
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