UFC White House арга хэмжээний оргил тулаанд Жастин Гэйжи өрсөлдөгч Илья Топуриаг илүүрхэн ялж, карьерынхаа чухал амжилтыг гаргалаа.
Жастин Гэйжи өмнө нь Хабиб Нурмагомедов, Чарльз Оливейра нарт ялагдаж, UFC 300 тэмцээнд Макс Холлоуэйгээс хүнд нокаут хүлээсэн нь түүний аваргын төлөөх замналд хүндрэл учруулж байсан юм. Хэдийгээр хүнд үеийг туулсан ч тэрээр Рафаэль Физиевийг ялж, улмаар энэ оны нэгдүгээр сард UFC 324 тэмцээнд Пэдди Пимблеттийг шүүгчдийн шийдвэрээр буулган авснаар хоёр дахь удаагаа түр аварга болсон билээ.
Тулааны дараах ярилцлагадаа Гэйжи өөрт нь эргэлзэх үе байсан ч хэзээ ч итгэл алдаагүй гэдгээ онцолжээ. Тэрээр тулааны спортын урьдчилан тааварлашгүй байдал болон өөрийн биеийн бэлтгэлдээ итгэлтэй байсан нь энэхүү ялалтад хүргэх гол хүчин зүйл болсон гэв.
Гэйжи аваргын бүсний төлөөх тулаанд оролцох боломж нь цаг хугацааны асуудал байсан гэж үзэж байгаа бөгөөд энэ удаагийн ялалт нь түүнийг дахин оргилд гаргаж ирлээ. Ийнхүү тэрээр UFC-ийн хөнгөн жингийн аваргын төлөөх өрсөлдөөнд эргэн ирж, өөрийн байр суурийг баталгаажууллаа.
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WASHINGTON, DC – JUNE 14: Justin Gaethje ce 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 the craziness of MMA would always give him a glimmer of hope to accomplish the one thing he never did.
Gaethje cashed in on that hope with an eye-opening upset win over Ilia Topuria in the main event of UFC White House. “The Highlight” was a two-time interim title holder, and previous two-time undisputed title challenger — where he got finished by Khabib Nurmagomedov and Charles Oliveira — and was on the wrong end of one of the biggest knockouts in UFC history against Max Holloway at UFC 300.
When asked by his coach Trevor Wittman about his doubts on What Hones You, Gaethje said he’d be lying if he didn’t have any.
“I mean, it doesn’t sound practical to say I never thought that it was gone,” Gaethje said. “Because going through those two fights, and then the Max Holloway fight after that, it made it real difficult.
“Before the Max fight I was on a, what, two or three-fight winning streak? I had knocked out Dustin Poirier. I was definitely planning on fighting for the belt next. I think Oliveira had [the shot], that’s when Topuria came up to lightweight and they made that fight. So I was like, shit, that kind of throws a wrench in everything.”
Gaethje battled back from his loss to Holloway to defeat Rafael Fiziev, then deliver a lopsided decision win over Paddy Pimblett in the main event of UFC 324 in January to become a two-time interim lightweight champion.
Getting to the spot he was in to share the stage with Topuria was not a surprise because Gaethje believed it was just a matter of time before things came together.
“I never really lost hope,” Gaethje explained. “I always knew that I was performing better than I had, I knew that my body still felt as good as it ever did.
“I knew that this sport was crazy, and I just had to put wins together. And, yeah, that was the mindset.”
