Justin Gaethje defied the chances at UFC Freedom 250, defeating Ilya Topria in a back-and-forth battle to win the undisputed light-weight gold medal.
Gaethje discovered success early within the opening spherical, pretending to aim a takedown and catching Topuria with an uppercut, chopping via the defending champion early. Gaethje continued to attach with uppercuts, however late within the stanza “El Matador” started to take management, catching Gaethje and pressuring him to the fence.
That pattern continued within the second match, as Topuria unleashed a flurry of assaults to Gaethje’s physique. One specific liver shot despatched Gaethje falling to the mat, permitting Topria to transition to full mount and go for an armbar. Gaethje defended effectively and finally escaped the spherical, however after 10 minutes all of the momentum was in Topuria’s favor.
Issues began to show after Gaethje landed a straight left adopted by a tough proper hand that despatched Topuria to the mat. Gaethje tried for a Dulce choke, however Topuria lower via and bought again to his toes. From there it was all Gaethje’s hand, as he continued to punish the light-weight champion with a sequence of nasty proper palms.
After the third spherical, a cageside physician got here in and examined Topuria’s eye, which was virtually swollen. Topria was heard saying that she was blind, however finally selected to proceed.
Topria gave the impression to be struggling along with his imaginative and prescient, however nonetheless beat Gaethje with a giant proper hand close to the halfway level of the fourth inning. Nonetheless, it was Gaethje who saved the momentum going within the penultimate spherical.
Gaethje threw an uppercut that staggered Topuria, however prompt replay later revealed it was an unintended hit on his thumb. Topuria secured a takedown late within the spherical and mounted Gaethje, however “The Spotlight” scrambled out of hazard and to his toes. Topria tried one other takedown, however Gaethje sprawled and gained high management with slightly below 30 seconds left within the spherical.
A brutal knee to the physique of Topria capped off a comparatively dominant spherical for Gaethje.
As Topuria made his technique to the chair, it was clear that “El Matador” was in no situation to proceed. Topria retired on a stool, ending the struggle and Justin Gaethje grew to become the undisputed light-weight world champion for the primary time in his UFC profession.
official outcomes: Justin Gaethje def. Ilia Topuria at 5:00 of spherical 4 by TKO (retirement) to win the undisputed UFC light-weight world title.
