Justin Gaethje holds himself to a higher standard of violence than most.
Gaethje is arguably the most exciting fighter in UFC history, having secured 10 post-fight bonuses in his nine UFC fights, six of which have been Fight of the Nights. He also won Fight of the Year honors in 2017 and 2018 for his bouts against Michael Johnson and Dustin Poirier respectively, and this past year, Gaethje added another Fight of the Year honor to his mantle for his win over Michael Chandler at UFC 268. But though the bout was good enough to be voted Fight of the Year, it wasn’t good enough for Gaethje himself.
“To be completely honest with you, I feel like that was kind of a boring fight when I was in there,” Gaethje told BT Sport. “Yeah, it just makes no sense. It’s the first time I’ve ever wanted to win more than to knock somebody out. So yeah, it was not good. I didn’t like it. I want to go back to just wanting to hurt somebody and finish them. But now that I have won, I got my title shot, I can go back to how it should be.”
While Gaethje may be a bit disappointed with the process, he certainly isn’t upset with the result. The win over Chandler has positioned Gaethje as the next title contender at lightweight, following Charles Oliveira’s submission victory over Dustin Poirier earlier this month. And with the UFC rumored to be returning to Brazil in May for a light heavyweight title fight between Glover Teixeira and Jiri Prochazka, Gaethje is hoping to make it a title fight double header.
“I want to go down to Brazil,” Gaethje said. “I want to fight in the chaos. If you go back and listen to my earlier interviews, I said I wanted to go to the enemy territory, like Brazil, and fight in that chaos. Them screaming ‘I’m gonna die,’ 20,000 people, I am 100 percent confident that when I’m done, they’ll love me….
“There’s a card in Brazil, May 7th. I want to fight the Brazilian champion in Brazil. I want the chaos.”
TOP STORIES
Threat. Francis Ngannou reveals UFC threatened his manager with lawsuit over alleged contact with Jake Paul’s business partner.
Injury. Francis Ngannou’s coach reveals details of knee injury, says team asked Ngannou to pull out.
Troll. Jake Paul invests in UFC’s parent company Endeavor with the goal of fixing UFC fighter pay from ‘within’.
Quitting. Vanessa Demopoulos explains decision to quit exotic dancing: ‘It was one of the scariest things I have ever done’.
Weight. UFC 270 fight night weights: Deiveson Figueiredo gained over 19 pounds in 24 hours.
Deal. PFL announces multi-year broadcast deal with ESPN.
VIDEO STEW
Top UFC KOs in light heavyweight history.
Preview of Matt Serra’s Fight Pass retrospective.
Eagle FC 44 Promo.
Paddy Pimblett fight camp.
Dana White after UFC 270.
LISTEN UP
Fighter vs. Writer. Curtis Blaydes discusses Francis Ngannou’s contract situation.
SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE
Ciryl Gane.
We didn’t come this far to only come this far. Thank you all for the amazing support pic.twitter.com/HDbKpFWHG9
— Ciryl Gane (@ciryl_gane) January 25, 2022
Jake Paul teasing something big.
just wait until this Friday…
Ariel Helwani will shit his pants..
— Jake Paul (@jakepaul) January 26, 2022
Beef.
Can’t wait to knock you out! https://t.co/pPvNxTeLsK
— Kai Kara France (@kaikarafrance) January 23, 2022
You going to be my chicken Australian guy https://t.co/bEM2bcF3Zs
— Askar Askarov (@askar_mma) January 25, 2022
You loss 9 times You tap 5 times let’s show who going to quit i’m gonna take you deep water and after I’m going to finishe you this my time I’m the best of the revision @Mickmaynard2 know https://t.co/QzlKQokyyW
— Askar Askarov (@askar_mma) January 25, 2022
Chael Sonnen may be the hardest working man in MMA. He certainly is one of the busiest.
A DYNAMIC NEW FIGHT PROMOTION
NAMED TO
HONOR
MY
FANSTune in to
EAGLE FC https://t.co/1R3DY0G96l
— Chael Sonnen (@ChaelSonnen) January 25, 2022
LOL.
https://t.co/nwwVdei0KS pic.twitter.com/OYzlp9zyDH
— Kyle Daukaus (@KyleDaukaus) January 25, 2022
Not something I expected to read today.
Has anyone tested his nips yet? They look like they still may be up to no good. https://t.co/6AG0PpM7jk
— Aljamain Sterling (@funkmasterMMA) January 25, 2022
Anniversary.
2 years ago on this date I became the sport of MMA’s only Grand Slam Champion when I captured the @BellatorMMA belt in LA. @ScottCoker pic.twitter.com/EYYwNO3N4k
— Shop W/ #BTC @CrisCyborg.com (@criscyborg) January 26, 2022
Fight poster.
Your RDA v Fiziev poster is official
This is going to be some fight pic.twitter.com/6YRRSE6oJj
— UFC on BT Sport (@btsportufc) January 25, 2022
Tough edit.
You’d think they’d make video game me more swole than actual me, I mean they did for all the heavyweights lol! pic.twitter.com/GEC4bqt6ZH
— Tim Elliott (@TElliott125) January 25, 2022
FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Nathaniel Wood (17-5) vs. Liudvik Sholinian (9-2-1); UFC London, Mar. 19.
Lamo Mohamed Camara (4-1) vs. Kenny Mokhonoana (2-0); UAE Warriors, Mar. 20.
Chris Curtis (28-8) vs. Dricus Du Plessis (16-2); UFC 273, Apr. 9.
Vicente Luque (21-7-1) vs. Belal Muhammad (20-3, 1 NC); UFC Fight Night, Apr. 16.
Denise Kielholtz (6-3) vs. Kana Watanabe (10-1-1); Bellator London, May 13.
Daniel Weichel (41-13) vs. Robert Whiteford (16-4); Bellator London, May 13.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Thanks for reading and see y’all tomorrow.
EXIT POLL
If you find something you’d like to see in the Morning Report, hit up @JedKMeshew on Twitter and let him know about it. Also follow MMAFighting on Instagram and like us on Facebook.
