08 July, 2017
They doubted whether the former WSOF lightweight champion would be to make the jump from a promotion comparable to an MLB AA baseball team.
"You can not break me, I promise you", said Gaethje, who was in serious trouble twice in the fight after being on the wrong end of Johnson's power shots. From Kevin Lee, Edson Barbosa to even Tony Ferguson, Gaethje will surely be in line for an even bigger fight following the victory over Johnson. Gaethje and Johnson hit their numbers in a shade less than two.
The beginning of the end came when Gaethje landed a hard knee to Johnson's body.
Ultimately, it was Gaethje's non-stop, aggressive style that overwhelmed Johnson, despite Johnson landing a number of big shots of his own and rocking Gaethje multiple times throughout the night. Neither shot led to a finish, and Gaethje's fabled recuperative powers rescued him yet again.
He took his share of abuse from Johnson in the second as well, but hurt Johnson with a knee to the midsection. An All-American wrestler, Gaethje dumped Johnson onto the canvas with a punch, but backed off and forced Johnson to stand. Gaethje goes back to attacking Johnson with some leg kicks, Johnson catches Gaethje with a step in knee strike. Back in November, Johnson was submitted by Khabib Nurmagomedov in the second round at UFC 205 at Madison Square Garden.
On Friday, July 7, the UFC will host The Ultimate Fighter 25 Finale from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. On who he wanted to fight next, Gaethje didn't mince any words. Where is my equal?
