A new Ultimate Fighting Championship record was set by Justin Gaethje after he eked out a stunning victory against Tony Ferguson at UFC 249.
Replacing Khabib Nurmagomedov in the revamped fight card, Gaethje signed the dotted line to face the boogeyman of the lightweight division on short notice, with the interim lightweight title up for grabs.
While many fans and pundits predicted an easy win for Ferguson, the 31-year old did the unexpected as he put on a striking masterclass in five rounds to defeat ‘El Cucuy’ by way of technical knockout.
It was Gaethje’s best performance to date and not even a very tough Ferguson could overcome his precise stand-up game.
According to stats, he landed 143 significant strikes on Ferguson out of 197 attempts – the most Ferguson absorbed in a single bout – with 100 of these shots landing on the opponent’s head, resulting to a fractured eye socket.
Justin Gaethje 2.0
In what many dubbed as his second coming, Gaethje set a new record in terms of significant striking accuracy as he improved his percentage from 55.6% to 59%, as per ufcstats.com, or the highest ever in the promotion’s history.
“Justin Gaethje entered this fight with the highest significant striking accuracy rate in UFC history, at 55.6%. He landed with 72.6% accuracy against Tony Ferguson@Justin_Gaethje #UFC249”
‘The Highlight’ is also behind Paulo Costa in terms of average significant strikes landed per minute, with 7.74.
“Justin Gaethje’s striking pace in the UFC has been so insane that the Ferguson fight actually caused his average significant strikes landed per minute to drop. He still ranks Number 2 in UFC history though, with 7.74 per minute.”
New Challenge
Now a UFC champion, Gaethje has no plans of slowing down as he looks to take a tougher challenge by facing Khabib Nurmagomedov in a unification bout.
“I don’t have any expectations when I step in there. Just be my best self and I was good tonight. My timing was incredible, my coaches are incredible. This was what I was born, bred, and raised to do.”
“You get one life and I’m living a crazy one and it’s so awesome. I can’t wait for that challenge (fighting Khabib Nurmagomedov) win or lose, don’t care, I’m going to give it 100 % that’s all I ever do. And I’m going to have a hell of a time!”
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