Justin Gaethje may have lost his perfect record at UFC 218 against Eddie Alvarez but, as he sees it, things could have been worse
Gaethje told MMA Tonight on SiriusXM Rush recently that he sees a positive in the manner of his knockout loss to Alvarez (h/t MMAFighting.com):
“It’s crazy, the way I fight, it’s definitely hard to – I would argue to anybody that I won the first round,” Gaethje explained. “I did some major damage to his lead leg in that first round. He did a good job of putting his hands on me but definitely didn’t do a lot of damage. He definitely beat me in that second round and in the third round, I thought it was a close fight. If it would have went to the scorecards, I’m sure he would have got it because of the takedown or something and he was a little bit more active with punches but I cause a lot of damage when I do land my strikes and it’s hard to judge that.
“I’m glad I got knocked out instead of going to a decision and losing because that’s not the way I want to lose. I’m happy with my performance. I feel like I won because I tried so hard. My preparation was there and ultimately I went out and did what I go to do and that entertains people and entertain myself really. And I had fun.”
Gaethje maintains his positive attitude to his future in the UFC, despite the only setback he has faced in his career to date. The former World Series of Fighting lightweight champion is optimistic that opportunities which would have been afforded to him should he have beaten Alvarez are not necessarily lost forever:
“With the way I fight, the UFC’s not stupid,” Gaethje inistsed. “For one, they probably know that they’re don’t have me forever. I’m not gonna be around. They don’t have but six to seven more fights out of me. I believe that I’m one of the top competitors in this division in the world, so I’m gonna keep fighting people at the top of the division for right now.
“I definitely would have wanted to call someone out ahead of me had I won this fight but since I lost I don’t think I have that position anymore. But they’re not gonna make me fight someone way back there. From a business standpoint, of course I’m not gonna fight someone that’s unranked or something like that. I think I’m on the same page as the UFC right now and luckily, one loss doesn’t kill you. Two or three does so I’ve got to go out there and get a big win in my next fight, it doesn’t matter who it’s against.”
