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After Tony Ferguson’s planned UFC 249 fight with lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov fell apart, fans received the ultimate consolation prize – an interim title fight between Ferguson and Justin Gaethje. Gaethje made the most of the opportunity, hitting Ferguson in five rounds of action before scoring a late TKO to pick up a championship belt at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena.
Both men started Round 1 with a cautious approach before Gaethje (22-2) began throwing massive, flying punches between heavy kicks. Never once did he back down from a fight, Ferguson (25-4) began to return fire with an almost mirrored attack, though it was Ferguson’s chin that got the most evidence in the early stages of the fight.
Gaethje’s left hook continued to land with significant impact in Round 2, but he stuck to the plan to land sharp kicks to prevent Ferguson from reaching a comfortable pace. Ferguson increased his offensive performance in the second round leg only to be interrupted again by Gaethje’s kicks and heavy punches. In the closing seconds of the round, Ferguson dropped Gaethje with a massive overhead punch that could have ended the fight if Gaethje hadn’t been saved by the bell.
Gaethje recovered from the takedown and made his way to the third round, landing more strong punches and slicing through Ferguson, causing significant swelling around his left eye. Still, Ferguson’s relentless march continued, landing sporadically among Gaethje’s massive bombs.
In Round 4, Ferguson’s stone jaw finally began to break. For the first time, Ferguson’s legs buckled behind another Gaethje right hand. Moments later, Ferguson was back in front of Gaethje, digging into the body and throwing left hooks at the head. All the while, Gaethje’s relentless kicking attack on the leg continued to take its toll on Ferguson.
The brutality didn’t stop in the final round, with Gaethje hitting Ferguson and sending him stumbling repeatedly. After nearly five full rounds of absolute domination, a Gaethje jab caused Ferguson to shake his head and stumble backward with arms and legs that seemed to betray him. Referee Herb Dean stepped in to stop the match at the 3:39 mark in Round 5.
By winning the fight, Gaethje ran his current winning streak to four and may have put the last nail in the coffin of a matchup between Ferguson and Nurmagomedov, a fight the UFC has attempted to book on five separate occasions.
“I’m waiting for the real one,” Gaethje said after taking off his interim belt and tossing it aside. “I knew I was a murderer when I entered here. I am a good brother. There is no better drug on earth than the adrenaline that runs through my veins.”
“I have a world-class coach. I had to lose to change. You can’t fix what’s broken. Once I understood what was wrong, I was hit too hard and I was having too much fun. Both times I lost, I was having too much fun At this level, you can’t do that. ”
Ferguson had a broken 12-fight winning streak. The streak dates back to 2013 and included a brief season as interim champion.
CBS Sports was with you all night bringing you results and analysis of UFC 249 in Jacksonville.
UFC 249 card and results
Justin Gaethje (ic) def. Tony Ferguson via fifth round TKO (punches)
Henry Cejudo (c) def. Dominick Cruz via second round TKO (punches)
Francis Ngannou def. Jair Rozenstruik via first-round TKO (punches)
Calvin Kattar def. Jeremy Stephens by knockout in the second round (elbow)
Greg Hardy def. Yorgan de Castro by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Anthony Pettis def. Donald cerrone by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Aleksei Oleinik def. Fabricio Werdum by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Carla Esparza def. Michelle Waterson by split decision (30-27, 27-30, 29-28)
Vicente Luque def. Niko Price via third round TKO (medical stoppage)
Bryce Mitchell def. Charles Rosa by unanimous decision (30-25, 30-25, 30-24)
Ryan Spann def. Sam Alvey by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
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