Gaethje won many fans in his losses, but..

[Greyscale]

I must admit I never followed Gaethje during his time in the lesser leagues, and I got to know the guy in the two fights he actually lost.

Win or lose, you can't help but admire him. His style is super fan-friendly. That said, it doesn't seem to work in the upper echelon. You just can't absorb countless shots from top-tier lightweights and hope not to end up in a wheelchair in another year. So I really feel bad for Gaethje. His total disregard for his own health will cost him dearly in the long run. Look at what happened to Junior dos Santos after Sea Level Cain fights.

And it's not really like Justin is a one-trick pony with banging and blocking shots with his forehead being his only choice. He has Division I wrestling for Christ's sake and never puts it to use. This is ridiculous. Of all lightweights, he may very well be the least stylistically convenient matchup for Nurmagomedov, but getting beat up in each and every appearance won't get him there.

I really like his penchant for being entertaining. It's a valuable asset amid woodleys and other super-boring fighters plaguing the today's sport of MMA. But I would really prefer seeing him fight smarter fights. A couple of takedowns wouldn't take the fun away but could really make the difference as to the outcome. It would certainly extend his life expectancy as a fighter beyond the five fights he mentioned.

 

[TCanaveira]

Yep. Everyone feels the same about him. Fortunately he said he's only going to fight 5 more times. But he should atleast TRY to use his wrestling in his next fight.

 

[jojoRed]

Except he's 1-2 in the UFC. He beat MJ.

He might be the GOAT 1-2 fighter in the UFC. If you dont like Justin, you dont like just-bleed fights.

 

[Rdude92]

5 more fights is alot. Dude gon die earlier if he continue 2 fite that way

 

[King Joffery]

I don't really feel bad for him tbh, its his choice to fight like a meathead. He resorted to deliberate eye pokes when getting outclassed and then trying to egg on the crowd when they started booing Poirer after the time-out. Happy to see Poirer inflict more head trauma, tired of seeing eye pokes change fights, glad Poirer still won despite it.

 

[loisestrad]

My biggest concern is that while he's probably thinking somewhat clearly atm, being a decently bright dude (so I've heard) - in 5 fights time he won't be seeing things as clearly as now, if he continues down his path of getting concussed every five minutes. So, he's probably gonna prolong his carreer. And who's there to stop him from doing so?

 

[EvilRyu]

while Conor takes advantage of every shot countering and knocking those fools down Justin puts his guard up and takes all those hits, theres levels to this.

 

[Erratic]

Yep. Everyone feels the same about him. Fortunately he said he's only going to fight 5 more times. But he should atleast TRY to use his wrestling in his next fight.

Its smart that he said he would only fight 5 more times. He knows the risks.

 

[Franklin U.]

Gaejthe better smarten up cause his first fight was against a guy who just descended a weight class and got choked out vs Elkins in his debut at 145.He has now been beaten in his past 2 fights and can't help but think UFC using his name now as a " Justin fights, you're getting a f.o.y candidate".

When his contract is up, he's going to get a reality check and he's not going to be happy.I can guarantee you WME people aren't going to talk about his exciting fights but they will talk about his losses.

 

[magicmarker]

He does use his wrestling but unfortunately he only does so to keep the fight standing where his striking defense and footwork is not very evasive whatsoever.

He would be an interesting matchup against a great grappler (like Khabib) where he can likely prevent the opponent from taking him down. All three matchups were not good for him. Fortunately mj gassed out. Eddie did not. Dustin might have gassed out but he got a huge second wind after the eye-pokes.

That's his only path to victory against strikers is to wait until they gas out. He would be a much tougher fight for a grappler, hopefully he gets matched up with a grappler at some point. The loss took the Khabib fight off the table, which I still think is a very winnable fight for him.

 

[Bronc66]

I think he was on his way to winning that fight though. He has got to develop a better game plan.

 

[WeazyFBaby]

while Conor takes advantage of every shot countering and knocking those fools down Justin puts his guard up and takes all those hits, theres levels to this.

WTF does this thread have to do with Conor???

Can we talk about MMA for 10 minutes without bringing Conor into it. Jesus

 

[d2s]

I don't really feel bad for him tbh, its his choice to fight like a meathead. He resorted to deliberate eye pokes when getting outclassed and then trying to egg on the crowd when they started booing Poirer after the time-out. Happy to see Poirer inflict more head trauma, tired of seeing eye pokes change fights, glad Poirer still won despite it.

Happy to see more head trauma inflicted on someone.. y'piece of shit or?

 

[SHOKASE]

Dude doesn't evade strike he eats them. He tough as hell but damn his style is not good for his health.

 

[King Joffery]

Happy to see more head trauma inflicted on someone.. y'piece of shit or?

Someone who does deliberate eye pokes deserves it, they are risking someone else's vision and livelihood so fuck em they deserve it.

 

[bombadii]

He must have passed the point of no return. His brain is doomed.

But he's a meathead and keeps talking about being an entertainer, so whatever. He can do what he thinks is right for him, but for me taking huge amounts of unnecessary damage isn't really entertaining and not why I like MMA.

 

[TDD]

If you like him just respect the way he fights, he clearly isnt there to win rounds.

 

[Prince Nephilim]

Sadly already sounds like he has a little CTE

I've followed him all through WSOF. He was marketed at their biggest star.
Even there he was still seen on a couple of UFC countdowns helping train aside fighters who trained at the same gym

The price for glory is high and he's willing to pay it

Whateva...its his body, he can do what he want. He can do what he wants..when he wants.

I do it I want

 

[orangecuse]

He really needs to drop that style now.

It has rewarded him as much as it could. He became an exciting WSOF champ, signed by UFC, promoted by them and put in a couple main events and won some bonuses. Now he's a relatively young ranked UFC fighter. Time to win fights. You already have a UFC name and exciting fights so once you win by any means necessary and your contract is up you can sign a good new one.

So now use your wrestling, more smartly mix in the brawling while avoiding taking so many shots and use your leg kicks to win fights to renew your contract and climb the ranks.

 

[fortheo]

Except he's 1-2 in the UFC. He beat MJ.

He might be the GOAT 1-2 fighter in the UFC. If you dont like Justin, you dont like just-bleed fights.

I'm losing interest in Justin because it's clear that being the best he can be is not his priority and I can only watch the same fight replay itself so many times.

I still enjoy watching him fight, but as someone who enjoys the sporting and competition aspect of MMA, I find it really sad that Gaethje doesn't care to evolve his game. He just fights to entertain, which is fine, but it sucks because he has potential to be more than just another entertaining sacrifice to the just bleed gods.