Justin Gaethje Questions Whether Ilia Topuria Can Become UFC Champion Again: “That’s gonna be such a tough task for him”
Justin Gaethje believes it will be tough for Ilia Topuria to become a UFC champion again after the latter’s title loss this past weekend at the White House.
On June 14, Topuria was dethroned by the 37-year-old Gaethje in Round 4 by TKO (corner stoppage) of the UFC Freedom 250 main event.
The Georgian-Spaniard wanted to do as he had predicted and went all out in the first 2 rounds, trying to knock out Gaethje. However, the 37-year-old then-interim lightweight champion survived the early storm, and as Round 3 began, he took control of the fight, dropped Topuria, and battered him with punches to the body and head.
By the end of Round 4, Topuria had absorbed a ton of damage. His face was badly swollen, and his vision was compromised. Thus, his corner was forced to stop the fight, after which the 29-year-old lost his undefeated record and lightweight title.
Media reports have revealed that “El Matador” has two broken orbital bones and a busted-up nose. He will be sidelined for nearly 6 months unless cleared by a doctor beforehand.
The newly minted UFC lightweight champion Justin Gaethje recently appeared on The Joe Rogan Experience with his head coach, Trevor Wittman. While reflecting on his June 14 lightweight title unification clash with Ilia Topuria, Gaethje opined that “El Matador” once carried an aura of invincibility. However, by defeating him, Gaethje says he showed the rest of the world how to solve the Topuria puzzle, and now the lightweight division has a blueprint ready.
Gaethje believes opponents will no longer view the Georgian-Spaniard as unbeatable, much like when the former defeated Tony Ferguson in 2020 and, in his view, shattered the perception that “El Cucuy” could not be broken.
Gaethje added on JRE that he wants the 29-year-old to become champion again. However, he believes it will be difficult for Topuria to regain the same aura of invincibility after their slugfest at the White House and “fight people that aren’t scared of him.” He said:
“I didn’t break Tony Ferguson’s confidence. I changed the perception of his opponents of him… Before this, he was the guy you couldn’t get through. Once I showed people that all you gotta do is get through that, then nobody is gonna go in there thinking he’s unbeatable now. That was his identity. That’s gonna be such a tough task for him, to fight people that aren’t scared of him.”
Check out Justin Gaethje’s comments below:
Justin Gaethje believes he stopped Ilia Topuria twice at UFC Freedom 250
Justin Gaethje said on JRE that Ilia Topuria was so busted up that he wanted to quit after the third round. Topuria had told his corner he could not see, and when the doctor came to evaluate, “El Matador” got an extra minute to recover.
The cageside physician at first decided to stop the bout. However, Topuria suddenly changed his mind and urged the doctor to let him continue. Referee Marc Goddard had also seen enough of the delay. He opted to let Topuria continue for one more round, despite the cageside doctor not being fully convinced that he was fit to fight for another five minutes.
In the fourth round, after eating more shots, when the Georgian-Spaniard went back to his corner, they decided to stop the bout before things could get even worse for the 29-year-old.
These events led Justin Gaethje to believe he stopped Ilia Topuria twice that night, and that the latter originally wanted to quit after 15 minutes. During the same sitdown with Rogan, he said:
“He [Topuria] wanted out. You do not EVER as a fighter say ‘I can’t see’. He was counting on that. I stopped him twice that night.”
Check out Justin Gaethje’s comments below:
