He did win his bout against Michael Chandler, but struggled far more than most expected him to despite seemingly getting the exact fight he wanted. Even though he was finished by Oliveira in the first round, he managed to floor the recently dethroned champion before ‘Do Bronx’ turned the tables.Īll the plaudits aside, there may be indications that Gaethje’s gung ho style is catching up to him. His losses to Alvarez and Dustin Poirier were both absolutely brutal thrillers. Even Khabib Nurmagomedov said he felt closest to losing his title when he faced off with Gaethje. Sure, his 6-4 record doesn’t have a surface level shine to it, but he’s only been fighting the best fighting the best lightweight has to offer. It isn’t like he’s just been losing either. That’s an unheard of rate, putting the likes of ‘bonus whores’ like Joe Lauzon and Charles Oliveira to shame. After ten trips to the Octagon, the 34-year-old has averaged one Performance Bonus per appearance. Win or lose, every fight from Justin Gaethje has been top tier entertainment.

I get that the ‘Highlight’ hasn’t claimed the title like Eddie Alvarez did (never mind catching a loss off the ‘Underground King’), but Gaethje has lived up to the hype in every other way, perhaps even exceeding it. Over the last decade, there hasn’t been a high-priced free agent the UFC has signed that has worked out better than Justin Gaethje.

Jackpocket winner