After defeating Tony Ferguson via referee stoppage in the fifth spherical in their bout at UFC 249, Justin changed into the period in-between champion of the UFC's lightweight department. This incredible upset victory catapulted Gaejthe to stardom inside the MMA world. While maximum hardcore fanatics had him on their radar and knew he had the potential to develop into the division's champion, however he was once having just a little of hassle reaching the more causal and mainstream target market until now.
Now that he's under the highlight, numerous individuals are in need of to be informed more about the UFC's newest titleholder. Despite simplest being in the UFC for about three years, Gaethje has had a decently lengthy occupation under the radar in MMA, starting to fight all the way back in 2011. That being said let's cross over some information that each MMA fan will have to know about UFC meantime lightweight champion Justin Gaethje.
14 Early Life
Justin used to be born on November 14, 1988, in Safford, Arizona. He began wrestling at four years outdated and attended Safford Highschool. During his adolescence he additionally participated in other faculty sports activities like soccer and baseball throughout his time in high school.
13 Family
Gaethje used to be born to Carolina Gaejthe, a postmaster who's of Mexican descent and John Ray Gaejthe a German-American miner. Gaethje has two sisters. He additionally has a twin brother, Marcus John Gaethje. Gaethje's paternal grandfather boxed whilst serving in the United States Army.
12 Working In A Mine
When he used to be 18 he took on a summer time process working in Morenci mine. He talked about the enjoy with Brett Okamoto saying "I worked seven days a week, 12 hours every day. I did it for three months straight and took one sick day because I had to sleep. I did 96 hours one week." After leaving for college his coworkers instructed him, "You'll be right back, you ain't gonna make it in college. You'll be right back here."
11 Wrestling
As said previous, he started wrestling from a very young age. Justin graduated highschool with a 191-9 record. He then went on to accept an be offering from the NCAA Division I program on the University of Northern Colorado. In his freshman yr, Gaejthe had an 18-Nine record. As a junior, he gained all-American status.
10 College Studies
Gaethje studied Human Services all over his time at the University of Northern Colorado and earned his bachelor's stage. He stated that if his profession in MMA did not figure out he wanted to develop into a social worker, operating with and helping out at-risk early life in his native land.
9 Amateur MMA
While Justin used to be studying at college, between wrestling season he started to compete in amateur MMA. Gaethje has said that he didn't know how to punch or kick and that he had no actual hanging coach all through maximum of his newbie occupation. Despite this he collected an newbie record of 7-0.
8 Turning Pro
After going undefeated in his beginner occupation, Gaejthe made his professional MMA debut in august of 2011 in opposition to Kevin Croom at ROF 41: Bragging Rights. He went on to win the fight in the first round by way of knockout via slam after a failed submission try through his opponent.
7 World Series Of Fighting
After having 7 professional MMA fits and going 7-0 Gaejthe signed with the World Series Of Fighting (now the PFL). His debut with the promotion used to be at WSOF 2 where he confronted Gesias Cavalcante. He once once more received that fit within the first round, this time through a health care provider's stoppage.
6 Why He Doesn't Wrestle In His Fights
Despite having a ton of wrestling experience and credentials, Gaethje is extra so identified for his hanging in MMA. He rarely appears for takedowns and even when he ties up his combatants in the clinch he prefers to strike. Gaejthe has stated that it is because he does no longer have the cardio to wrestle for an MMA fit.
5 Bad Vision
A large part of his preventing taste has been influenced due to his dangerous imaginative and prescient. He stated, "I used to be blind. I had horrible vision. I was 20/60 in one eye and 20/200 in another eye. And I was far-sighted in one eye and nearsighted in another eye." In 2016 he underwent a photorefractive keratectomy to right kind his vision.
4 Joining The UFC
After becoming the first lightweight champion within the World Series Of Fighting and protecting that title five times, Gaejthe signed a freelance with the UFC. His first fit with the promotion used to be against Michael Johnson who he finished in the second one round through TKO by the use of punches.
3 Early Fighting Style
In his early career in MMA, including his first few fights with the UFC, he was once called the Homer Simpson of MMA. This used to be about his style of walking forward taking shots from his opponent to land one giant one. This taste ended up biting him in the end as he was stopped by way of Eddie Alvarez and Dustin Poirier in two consecutive bouts.
2 Recent Fighting Style
After his two consecutive losses, Gaethje learned that he needed to make a transformation to his style if he wanted to achieve success within the recreation of MMA. He become more patient and calculating, looking ahead to his opponent to make mistakes. This is what lead him to his current four-fight win streak, together with the win over Tony Ferguson that won him the period in-between light-weight identify.
1 Plans To Fight Khabib
After becoming the meantime lightweight champion, He used to be put on to a path instantly to a match with actual lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. This combat will most probably happen sometime within the fall if cases allow it. Justin said if he fights Khabib, "Nothing will happen on the cage. We will fight in the center of the octagon. As much as he’s going to want to fight on the edge of the octagon, we’re going to fight in the center."
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