Skip to main content

Justin Gaethje: 'I do not recognize the person that fought Charles Oliveira'

Justin Gaethje vows he’s a different fighter since losing to Charles Oliveira at UFC 274.

Since a submission loss to Oliveira (34-9 MMA, 29-9 UFC) in their lightweight title fight in May 2022, Gaethje (25-4 MMA, 8-4 UFC) has rebounded with two straight wins – a decision over Rafael Fiziev at UFC 286, and a knockout of Dustin Poirier to claim the “BMF” title less than two weeks ago at UFC 291 to cement himself as No. 1 contender.

Gaethje has been a bonus machine since joining the UFC roster, thrilling fans with numerous all-out wars. While he’s still winning bonuses, “The Highlight” recently displayed a much more composed version of himself.

As he awaits the winner of lightweight champion Islam Makhachev vs. Oliveira at UFC 294 on Oct. 21, Gaethje reflected on his quick loss to Oliveira, which was action packed while it lasted.

“I made a huge mistake and I really got caught up in the moment when I fought Charles Oliveira,” Gaethje told ESPN. “Like if you look at the difference between my walkout in this fight and the Charles Oliveira fight, like, I am a different person. I do not recognize the person that fought Oliveira. It’s still a battle that I’m going to face every single time I step in there, to not get caught up in the what are we doing, what’s it for.

“Outside of just being present and trusting in my preparation and trusting in my intuition and being calm in that sense or in that arena, and I think again it was just a mistake I made. It was kind of the last learning lesson that I needed because I still wasn’t convinced that whether I’m aggressive or not aggressive, I didn’t think that was a huge factor. I thought I would still perform the same way but it’s certainly was a detriment to my performance that night.”

Gaethje and Poirier engaged in a barnburner in their first fight in 2018. Many expected their rematch at UFC 291 to go down in similar fashion, but Gaethje had other plans that he thinks threw Poirier off.

“I’m skipping towards the cage, I’m singing a song that I don’t even understand the words to, kind of like Dustin came out, just hyped up,” Gaethje said. “Dustin came out for a war and I gave him a ballet, and it was it was the best thing I could have done. I mean he was expecting a war and I gave him the opposite. I guarantee that frustrated him and he was probably very surprised, and it was perfect. It worked out perfect on my end.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 291.



from MMA Junkie https://ift.tt/RSGzT5x
via IFTTT
Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

'Salsa Boy': The hilarious story behind UFC heavyweight Waldo Cortes-Acosta's nickname

Waldo Cortes-Acosta ’s “Salsa Boy” nickname was not self-appointed – like every proper nickname should be. His curious fight nickname was earned and given by his teammates after a spicy story behind his cooking, not his dancing. Cortes-Acosta (11-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC), who fights in the UFC’s heavyweight division, hosted a party years ago at which he invited his friends and teammates from Ultimate Kombat Training Center in Arizona. “I dance well, yeah – but the nickname actually came from salsa I made for a party,” Cortes-Acosta told MMA Junkie in Spanish. “There were guys from Nicaragua, Mexico, Brazil, Colombians – all over the place.” Training with many Hispanic people, especially those from Central America, Cortes-Acosta knew he had to show out with the salsa given the high standards and high tolerance for spicy food at the party – and he might’ve gotten a bit overboard. “A friend of mine, who we call ‘El Chimmy,’ and he already fought in the UFC, tried the sauce, and before he was ...
Read more

Max Holloway recalls near-nudity 'towelgate incident' with Justin Gaethje: 'I guess that's the whole beef'

One of the most exciting fights on the  UFC 300 lineup is the BMF title fight between Max Holloway and Justin Gaethje, and it’s one that doesn’t have any bad blood boiling over. Or has Holloway been holding onto a grudge since 2017? At the UFC 218 official weigh-ins, Gaethje nearly exposed Holloway’s genitals to the world after volunteering to hold the towel for the former champion who needed to strip down to make championship weight for his fight against Jose Aldo. Gaethje raised the towel in front of the scale, making it impossible to see the weight. The commissioner told Gaethje the towel needed to be placed between the scale and Holloway. An executive decision was made by Gaethje to save time. Rather than have Holloway put his clothes back on, move the towel, and get undressed again, Gaethje saw a quicker solution – and one that likely played into his favor as he was weighing in right after Holloway. “He even told me, he was like, ‘Brother, it just looked like you want...
Read more

Paul Felder: The fight itch is strong, thanks to UFC 300 and Jim Miller

LAS VEGAS – Paul Felder gave an inch to the idea of another UFC fight – and the universe is taking a mile. When Felder (17-6 MMA, 9-6 UFC) reentered the promotion’s anti-doping test pool , Jim Miller (37-17 MMA, 26-16 UFC) was on his mind. After Miller’s submission win and post-fight callout Saturday at UFC Fight Night 234 , Felder has all but committed to fighting once more, at UFC 300 . “When I saw ‘Korean Zombie’ (Chan Sung Jung) have that walkout and I got inspired to potentially get back into the pool and do all this sort of stuff, anybody who knows me or talked to me, you knew Jim was the name,” Felder told MMA Junkie and other reporters at a news conference Saturday. “I was like, ‘If I’m going to do it, I want it to be against a guy like Jim, somebody around my age, who’s been in the game for a long time.’ I’m not trying to come back and make a run for the belt or anything like that.” Felder did not utter the words “I’m coming back” when he spoke Saturday at the UFC Apex,...
Read more