Originally Posted by JohnnyHammersticks:
Really, really, really looking forward to this Khabib vs Gaethje fight. Gotta pick Khabib, but would love to see Gaethje win. Should be a war.
Justin Gaethje is one of my favorite fighters. Because of his fighting style, most people don't know about his wrestling abilities. He was not a world beater in college, but he was a D-1 All-American his Junior year.
He is one of the few opponents who has the skills to get back to his feet if Khabib takes him down. But, Khabib may not be able to take him down as easily as people presume. Justin Gaethje has an 80% takedown defense rating, and in his UFC career he has been in the bottom position for a total of 17 seconds. Granted, he is often in slug fests, but that is because his opponents know that taking him down successfully is much easier said than done.
Justin Gaethje lands 7.74 strikes per minute, which is the highest in UFC history. Khabib has never dealt with a striker like Gaethje.
And people have this perception of Khabib having unstoppable takedowns, and while he is in the top 10 for career takedowns, he only has a 45% career takedown accuracy.
I believe that Khabib's most dominant, and overlooked trait is his mental toughness. He simply believes that no one can break his will, and he believes that everyone will break under his pressure. But Gaethje is just as mentally tough.
I believe that Justin Gaethje is going to shock the world. He may not knock out Khabib, but I think that he will do enough damage over the course of the fight, and he will have his hand raised at the end of the fight.
#andNEW
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Cool article. Sounds like a really good dude.
Justin Gaethje’s biggest hits have come outside the UFC octagon, helping Denver kids
When the UFC’s interim lightweight champ and former UNC All-American isn’t prepping for fights such as his showdown with Khabib Nurmagomedov, he’s giving his time and money to DPS students.
Justin Gaethje speaks to the media after his Interim lightweight title fight against Tony Ferguson of the United States during UFC 249 at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena on May 09, 2020 in Jacksonville, Florida.
By Sean Keeler |
skeeler@denverpost.com | The Denver Post
PUBLISHED: October 22, 2020 at 1:27 p.m. | UPDATED: October 22, 2020 at 5:06 p.m.
It wasn’t the left jab that rang Tony Ferguson’s Liberty Bell. Or the right hook that turned Cowboy Cerrone’s knees to pudding.
The sweetest hit of Justin Gaethje’s last calendar year landed at West Early College High School and Middle School on Elati Street, just before Christmas 2019. A knockout blow that nobody saw coming.
“I was here when Justin approached us and asked if he could donate money to pay for lunch debt,” West Early College principal Mia Martinez recalled. “He showed up and pulled out his checkbook and asked us how much.”
The UFC’s interim lightweight champion wrote a check for $1,538 and handed it to then-executive principal Ana Mendoza. No fanfare. No announcements. No photo ops. Here ya go. Merry Christmas. I’m out.
“He just hit me up one time and was like, ‘Hey, how do I do this?’” said Rocco DePaolo, a wrestling coach and social studies teacher at the school and one of Gaethje’s old wrestling teammates with the UNC Bears.
“I was like, ‘Let me put you in touch with some people.’ I think he came in the next day, cut a check, was real low-key about it. He hung out with a couple kids, said, ‘Hi,’ and bounced. It was cool.”
The cool kids don’t need thank-yous. Or a parade. The 31-year-old Gaethje, the guy fighting Khabib “The Eagle” Nurmagomedov on Saturday in the main event at UFC 254, lets his actions speak 30 times louder than any Instagram post.
Whenever the UFC’s interim lightweight champion isn’t in camp or fighting, he works as a volunteer coach with DePaolo’s wrestling squad over at West Early College, where 88% of the student population qualifies for free lunch and 95% are Hispanic.
“And a lot of them are from non-English-speaking Hispanic families,” said Gaethje, who’s half-Mexican on his mother’s side.
“It’s real easy to coach these guys because that’s where I’m from. My nana doesn’t speak English. I just really want to help the community as much as I can.”
Justin Gaethje, left, punches Tony Ferguson in their Interim lightweight title fight during UFC 249 at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena on May 9, 2020 in Jacksonville, Florida.
When Gaethje can’t give his time, he’s cutting checks. He’s bought the kids who make the state tournament new wrestling shoes. He’s helped to line up sponsors. He’s taken the kids from the most financially stressed households out for a hearty meal and a good time.
“Takes them out and spoils them,” DePaolo laughed.
“But yeah, it’s great. He’s humble. He comes out and hangs out at the state tournament. He always there, sitting on the bench. He brings it back to Earth for the kids. Win or lose, he’s always got something to help them out.”
The pair have been pals since Gaethje was a freshman at UNC — the cocky kid from Arizona who took on all comers.
They ran together. Trained together. Partied together. They even bought bulldogs together. (When one college buddy named his pup “Elway,” in honor of the former Broncos quarterback and current general manager, Gaethje’s response was to name his pooch “Raider” after his NFL franchise of choice.)
The duo even made their MMA amateur debuts together, at the Battle Under The Stars event back in August 2008.
Gaethje won his fight by knockout within 27 seconds. DePaolo got knocked out in his bout after just 56.
“I got my (expletive) whupped once and I was done,” DePaolo recalled with a chuckle. “(Gaethje) punches hard. He punches really hard. I don’t know what else to say. He’s a good athlete. I think he’s humble. He’s got the right mindset. It’s like a perfect storm. I don’t think it couldn’t happened to anybody better … he’s just been the most aggressive one out of all of us as well.”
Well, except when it comes to fanfare. Gaethje cracked that even after his TKO over Ferguson this past May at UFC 249, one of the first major national sporting events held amid the coronavirus pandemic, he still feels fairly anonymous around his stomping grounds in Wheat Ridge and Arvada.
The interim champ was shopping at a Safeway off 44th Avenue this summer when a kid walked up.
“Are you Justin Gaethje?” the teen asked.
Yeah, man, he replied.
“And the kid just shook his head like 10 times and walked out straight out of there. I couldn’t believe it,” Gaethje recalled. “He just stared at me and walked outside and was like, ‘Come on.’ And he just walked out.”
Sometimes, the stealth approach works a little too well. But whatever.
“If you wanted to change it, you could change it,” Gaethje said. “If I wanted people to recognize me, I could have 10 people to walk in (a room) with me … that’s certainly not what I’m trying to do.
“I think you can kind of bring attention to yourself if you want it. And I really do a good job of not bringing attention to myself.”
Actions. Not words. And the cool kids already know what Nurmagomedov is about to figure out. In Gaethje’s world, inside or outside the octagon, it’s wiser to give than to receive.
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