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.
