Hail Sabin Posted July 8, 2017 Share Posted July 8, 2017 Only fight I saw was the Main event (will watch the rest of it tomorrow morning) and that is for sure up there for fight of the year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiji Posted July 8, 2017 Share Posted July 8, 2017 Only seen the main event so far but holy fuck. Johnson clipped him like right away, as expected, but Gaethje's pressure eventually wore out Johnson and he had more in the never ending gas tank/durability of his. Remarkable shit and a fight for the ages. I was so sure that Johnson's length and speed would be enough to ward off Gaethje's pressure but it wasn't until it was too late. Gaethje's technique in his foot work and defense is some caveman level shit but when he's able to put that much pressure and bend but not crack under intense scrutiny, he can get away with it. Against the WSOF caliber of fighters, sure. But I thought he wouldn't be able to against somebody as high of a level as MJ but here we are. I was wrong. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted July 8, 2017 Author Share Posted July 8, 2017 1 hour ago, Oyaji said: Only seen the main event so far but holy fuck. Johnson clipped him like right away, as expected, but Gaethje's pressure eventually wore out Johnson and he had more in the never ending gas tank/durability of his. Remarkable shit and a fight for the ages. I was so sure that Johnson's length and speed would be enough to ward off Gaethje's pressure but it wasn't until it was too late. Gaethje's technique in his foot work and defense is some caveman level shit but when he's able to put that much pressure and bend but not crack under intense scrutiny, he can get away with it. Against the WSOF caliber of fighters, sure. But I thought he wouldn't be able to against somebody as high of a level as MJ but here we are. I was wrong. I think the only question that was clearly answered from the MJ fight is he fights up and down to the level of his opponent more so than Eddie Alvarez. Alvarez is a little bit more polished so he can have a fight where he stops Rafael dos Anjos quickly, or he can wrestle any opponent where it is advantageous to do so. Gaethje moves forward and doesn't give a shit. I don't see him ever changing that style because he obviously knows it is entertaining and knows that he can survive wars of attrition. I remember seeing one of Gaethje's first fights (might have been as an amateur) in Victory Fighting Championships online, and he just seemed like a better and more updated version of a Sean Sherk/Tyson Griffin hybrid as a prospect. Now that he is acclimated to striking under Trevor Wittman, he is basically a whirling dervish who can absorb insane amounts of punishment. The UFC, knowing that especially after seeing it for themselves up close, should know that they should take everything into account. They can move slow with him and get him some easier wins so the title contendership can clear up, or they can get going with him and just let go with any feasible matchup that can be made. For better or for worse, Gaethje isn't changing his style anytime soon. So the UFC has to carefully evaluate what they plan to do next to get the most out of him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheVileOne Posted July 8, 2017 Share Posted July 8, 2017 Don't get me wrong, I thought it was a great fight. I just want to see how Gaethje does against someone who's not 1-3 in their last four going into this. If he does fight a Ferguson next, I've got Ferguson all day long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supremebve Posted July 8, 2017 Share Posted July 8, 2017 1 minute ago, TheVileOne said: Don't get me wrong, I thought it was a great fight. I just want to see how Gaethje does against someone who's not 1-3 in their last four going into this. If he does fight a Ferguson next, I've got Ferguson all day long. I'd favor Ferguson too, but Ferguson's lack of stopping power will make that fight interesting. Gaethje walking through Ferguson's volume striking like a zombie is a very distinct possibility. Johnson hit him with a shit load of power shots, and kept moving forward for the most part. Ferguson is a better fighter than Johnson, but he doesn't have the one shot power Johnson has. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted July 8, 2017 Author Share Posted July 8, 2017 18 minutes ago, TheVileOne said: Don't get me wrong, I thought it was a great fight. I just want to see how Gaethje does against someone who's not 1-3 in their last four going into this. If he does fight a Ferguson next, I've got Ferguson all day long. At lightweight we should go off strength of schedule and the performances therein. There are probably guys on win streaks at lightweight that Gaethje would just march over (or at the very least have a somewhat convincing win) based on last night. Evan Dunham hasn't lost since 2014. Gaethje couldn't beat Evan Dunham just because he won consecutive fights? Iaquinta hasn't lost since 2014. He can't beat Iaquinta? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheVileOne Posted July 8, 2017 Share Posted July 8, 2017 1 hour ago, Elsalvajeloco said: At lightweight we should go off strength of schedule and the performances therein. There are probably guys on win streaks at lightweight that Gaethje would just march over (or at the very least have a somewhat convincing win) based on last night. Evan Dunham hasn't lost since 2014. Gaethje couldn't beat Evan Dunham just because he won consecutive fights? Iaquinta hasn't lost since 2014. He can't beat Iaquinta? Maybe he can't. Iaquinta's not exactly a ham and egger. He's legitimately top 10, and if he was more active, he'd be even higher. I could easily see Iaquinta giving Gaethje some problems. And maybe Dunham for that matter. Stranger things have happened in this sport. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted July 8, 2017 Author Share Posted July 8, 2017 12 minutes ago, TheVileOne said: Maybe he can't. Iaquinta's not exactly a ham and egger. He's legitimately top 10, and if he was more active, he'd be even higher. I could easily see Iaquinta giving Gaethje some problems. And maybe Dunham for that matter. Stranger things have happened in this sport. Iaquinta is a tough out for most of 155, but Gaethje would still be a nice favorite according to the betting lines. He would be an even bigger favorite over Dunham. My point is that SoS schedule matters more than who is on what streak. I mean if Gaethje hadn't beat Michael Johnson, it would be vice versa for Gaethje-Iaquinta and close odds for Dunham. I'm not saying give Gaethje a title shot yet (as I stated above, it depends on what the UFC wants to do because they have options), but we know more about Gaethje than when he was fighting the likes of Brian Foster, Luis Palomino, and Buscape. We know he can do what he did against some of those guys to a much higher level of opponent. But how long can he do this for is a much bigger and better question than can he do this against a streaking fighter. If you can't outlast Justin Gaethje, it don't matter how many wins you got in your last handful of fights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheVileOne Posted July 9, 2017 Share Posted July 9, 2017 I think it matters a lot. As Kevin Lee pointed out, Johnson is no killer and loses half of his fights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted July 9, 2017 Author Share Posted July 9, 2017 4 hours ago, TheVileOne said: I think it matters a lot. As Kevin Lee pointed out, Johnson is no killed and loses half of his fights. No killed? What in the blue hell is that? Also, Michael Johnson with 12 losses is still better than a good majority of lightweights. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheVileOne Posted July 9, 2017 Share Posted July 9, 2017 I meant killer. It was an iphone typo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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