Justin Gaethje once said his goal when he steps into the octagon is “creating car crashes.” But apparently, ahead of his lightweight title shot against Charles Oliveira, he was involved in the most unwanted kind of crash.
Speaking during the UFC’s New York Media Day on Thursday, the former UFC interim lightweight champion said he got into a nasty bicycle accident just a few weeks before he faced off with Oliveira at UFC 274.
“Life is crazy man…nobody understands what we go through,” Gaethje said to reporters. My dumbass 18 I went to gas station for nicotine patches a few days prior to fighting Charles. I crashed my bike and had to stop. Smoked my head off the road, road rash all down my back, and then go in there and took that damage that I took in that fight. This is why I am taking so much time off.
” It’s amazing what we experience. Every person has their own unique circumstances. That was such a hurdle in my last [fight]. It happened so quickly that I went home to pretend it hadn’t happened, and pretend my vision wasn’t ***** higher for just two seconds. And that’s what we’ve been doing since we were kids. You put that doubt aside. It was clear that you were ready to face the challenge. How do I continue to improve and continue to be ready for this fight?'”
When Gaethje was asked for more information about the accident, he explained that it was a random event. While some may not have though it a good idea to go through with the fight after suffering such injuries, he said that was never a consideration.
” He said that he wasn’t being stupid. My pedal broke off while I was riding. Crazy, insane, crazy crazy! It was stupid. I was 12 weeks into a camp. You know what? All I know about competing is that. I don’t let myself feel anything. I try to take away the emotions so I’m constantly either running from it, or I feel like I can control it. But in that instance I was like, ‘Oh, I f***** up. This is not good.’ But I didn’t feel compromised externally. It was not even internal, as I was at the moment ready to fight.
” I had a terrible rug burn. It was so bad that I tried to clean it up every day. But it was f****** stupid is what it was, at the end of the day. But I had put so much work in, there was no chance I wasn’t — I’ve never backed out of a fight. I didn’t feel I needed to then, I still don’t think I should have, and I’m glad I didn’t. It was an amazing fight. Because I was home, it was extremely emotional. I think that’s the mistake I made, I let the moment get to me, and that’s the lesson you learn.”
Gaethje ultimately faced Oliveira at UFC 274, but things did not go his way. Though he dropped the Brazilian early in the fight, “Do Bronx” returned the favor shortly afterward and then submitted him in the first round.
Gaethje wants to make it clear that he’s not putting the loss on his bike crash, because come fight night, he felt all the way ready to go.
“That is why I don’t even want talk about it because I don’t f ****** understand, and it doesn’t sound like that,” said he. “That was just something that happened and I’m a dumbass. It is exactly what it is. …
” I feel that I have always been 100 % because those are not things that deter me from my actions. At the end of the day, when I step in there, there’s only five things that are going to affect the outcome, and all of it has to do with my choices, actions, effort, and those things don’t matter anymore. To get to the fight you have to be cautious. It sounds stupid because we are about to do something very dangerous.
Source: https://www.mmafighting.com/2022/11/10/23451852/justin-gaethje-suffered-a-vicious-crash-bicycle-18-days-before-title-fight-against-charles-oliveira?rand=96749
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