Justin Gaethje Points out One Tactic that Helped Him Beat Ilia Topuria

Ilia Topuria and Justin Gaethje had a war at UFC Freedom 250. Ahead of the fight, it was Topuria who was considered the favorite to win the fight. Unfortunately for the Spaniard, things turned out to be tragic as he failed to fight past the fourth round. Suffering some serious injuries, ‘El Matador’ had to accept a bitter defeat. Now, months later, Gaethje has revealed one flaw that helped him defeat the former UFC two-division champion. 

Justin Gaethje Capitalized on Ilia Topuria’s Poor Foot Movement

In a recent statement, Gaethje already went off on Topuria to say that he was not fully prepared for the fight. Expanding on his analysis of the championship bout, ‘The Highlight’ further noted how the Spaniard had flawed footwork that helped Gaethje gain an upper hand on his opponent. 

Gaethje analyzed, “He never changes the rhythm of his feet. He moves forward or backward, and you very rarely see him moving laterally.”

Dissecting Topuria’s game, the champion added, “As a result, the key issue is timing the movement of his feet correctly. Our game plan for that match was to disrupt his footwork and break his rhythm."

Well, if Topuria is listening, he better be noting this down and changing his game plan before his next bout. Meanwhile, suffering some significant blows from the fight, Gaethje will not be fighting for the rest of 2026. 

When Will Justin Gaethje Fight Next?

Fighting Ilia Topuria is not an easy task. And Gaethje is fully aware of the same. Taking some significant damage to his body (although he did not bleed much), the champion has reached the decision to put his health at the forefront. 

Gaethje said, “I fought twice this year. I have a deep bone bruise in my knee. I can't punch with my hands still. So, I really need to recover. So, I know for a fact I will not be fighting again this year."

This means that all the talks about a potential rematch against Ilia Topuria will not be happening this year anymore.