Вашингтон хотноо болсон UFC-ийн аваргын бүсний тулаанд Жастин Гэйжи өрсөлдөгчөө дөрөвдүгээр раундын дараа буулган авснаар жинхэнэ аваргаар тодорлоо.
Тулааны эхний раундад Илья Топуриа илт давуу эхлүүлж, эрт дуусгах төлөвлөгөөтэй байсан ч Гэйжи тулааны явцыг өөрийн талд эргүүлж чадсан юм. Гэйжи эхний ээлжийн солилцооны үеэр өрсөлдөгчийнхөө нүдний орчимд зүсэлт үүсгэсэн нь тулааны эргэлтийн цэг болжээ. Топуриа цусандаа анхаарлаа сарниулж эхэлсэн бол Гэйжи гуравдугаар раундаас эхлэн жаб цохилтуудаар давамгайлж, өрсөлдөгчөө ухрахад хүргэсэн байна.
Хоёрдугаар раундад Топуриагийн боолт хийх оролдлогоос амжилттай мултарсан Гэйжи өөрийн тактикаа баримталж, өрсөлдөгчөө октагоны хойд хэсэгт шахаж чадсан юм. Дөрөвдүгээр раундын дараа Топуриагийн дасгалжуулагчид тулааныг үргэлжлүүлэх боломжгүй гэж үзэн алчуур шидэж, тулааныг зогсоосон байна.
Тулааны дараах ярилцлагадаа Гэйжи өрсөлдөгчөө хүндэтгэж буйгаа илэрхийлсэн ч даага нэхэх тулаан хийх шаардлагагүй гэж үзэж байгаагаа мэдэгдлээ. Тэрээр өөрийгөө гуравдугаар раунд хүртэл илт давуу байсан гэж дүгнэсэн бөгөөд Топуриаг хүнд бэртэл авч эмнэлэгт хүргэгдсэнийг дурдаад, өөрийн хувьд ялалт байгуулж чадсандаа сэтгэл хангалуун байгаагаа илэрхийлэв.
Дэлгэрэнгүйг эх сурвалжаас харах
Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
WASHINGTON, DC – JUNE 14: Justin Gaethje strikes Ilia Topuria of Spain in the UFC lightweight championship fight during the UFC Freedom 250 event on the South Lawn at the White House on June 14, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
Justin Gaethje knew he was going to have to walk through hell to become undisputed champion at UFC White House, but Ilia Topuria made it sound like he was about to have an easy night at the office.
Prior to the fight, Topuria promised a first-round finish and even went as far as saying he would put Gaethje away inside two minutes. While Topuria did come out guns blazing in the opening round, Gaethje not only survived, but started dishing out the punishment by the third round.
Ultimately, Topuria absorbed so much damage that his coaches threw in the towel and stopped the fight after the fourth round. After Topuria made such a bold prediction and then lost in dramatic fashion, Gaethje can’t help but wonder what’s next for Topuria in his career.
“I am such a huge fan of this kid but where do you go from here?” Gaethje said on the UFC White House post-fight show. “It’s going to be a very tough climb back. I’ve never had the mindset he had. I never thought of myself as unbeatable or infallible. I said it from day one, I’m going to get knocked out with the way I fight, with how crazy this sport is.
“I don’t want to say anything bad about this guy. He was a world champion and I seized my opportunity to take it from him. But he is in the hospital right now and I’m not.”
Gaethje recognized right away that Topuria was in for a rough night after he blasted the now-former lightweight champion with an uppercut during an early exchange that opened a cut around his eye.
With blood trickling down Topuria’s face, Gaethje noticed he was constantly paying attention to the cut and that let him know this was something his opponent had never experienced before.
“He’s such a pretty boy that he was so concerned about the blood immediately,” Gaethje said. “I hit him with the uppercut, he’s bleeding and he started touching it over and over and over.
“He’s so f*cking dangerous. I don’t know how I stayed away from some of those shots. He definitely rocked me but I just kept telling myself to trust my abilities, not be emotional.”
After surviving a late submission attempt in the second round, Gaethje saw a dramatic switch in Topuria in the third round and that’s when he took over the fight.
“What I felt was in the third round, I kept jabbing the shit out of him,” Gaethje said. “The plan was do not lead with jabs until he finds his back foot.
“As soon as he finds his back foot, he’s not going to be as explosive. He’s not going to be as dangerous. He’s not dangerous off his back foot.”
In the end, Gaethje dished out so much punishment that Topuria couldn’t continue and his coaches didn’t want to see him absorb any further harm after a brutal ending to the fourth round.
While Topuria was undefeated prior to Sunday night and ranked as the No. 2 pound-for-pound fighter in the sport. Gaethje doesn’t expect to see him again any time soon.
In some instances champions are granted an immediate rematch after a loss but Gaethje sees no need for that. Of course, Gaethje is still contemplating his own future after finally achieving his dream by becoming an undisputed UFC champion but he doesn’t expect to face Topuria again no matter what.
“I would say definitely not a rematch,” Gaethje said about Topuria. “I made him quit on the stool. I think it was three to one. I won three rounds to one. In any election, that’s a domination.”
