Justin Gaethje kicks Khabib Nurmagomedov of Russia in their lightweight title bout during the UFC 254 event on October 25, 2020 on UFC Fight Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
Justin Gaethje also shared his thoughts on the MMA GOAT debate
One of the biggest discussions in the MMA world has been how the GOAT (greatest of all-time) is.
Some have named stars such as Jon Jones and Khabib Nurmagomedov for this title since they have dominated the sport in recent years.
However, others have named older stars such as Georges St-Pierre, Royce Gracie and many more for helping build the sport.
Justin Gaethje, who missed out on the UFC Lightweight title against Khabib Nurmagomedov, was asked about his GOAT too.
The American was speaking to Helen Yee and highlighted how difficult it was to name someone:
“If you are going to have a discussion, then you have to do it by era.”
Gaethje brought up how MMA had changed drastically over the years with different fighters and fighting styles too but still has a few names from the past:
“Royce Gracie, obviously, is first generation GOAT. Matt Hughes, GSP, all those guys that really made us fall in love with the sport, in the very beginning in 2002, 2003, 2004.”
GSP was another name that he claimed was “on merit” as the GOAT. However, comparing fighters from different eras was difficult for Gaethje.
The loss to Khabib would have hurt Gaethje and he was asked what he learned from that loss. The former interim champion looked at the bright side of this and claimed the loss made him hungrier for more success:
“Losing sucks. You never want to lose. I never became complacent and never would at this level, but, winning is comfortable and it is good to be unconformable sometimes.
“I get to be uncomfortable right now and push myself to the next one so that’s what I took most from it.”
Gaethje bounced back after the loss to Dustin Poirier extremely well and became one of the best in the division.
This loss could serve as a lesson for him and it will be interesting to see who he faces next.
Follow our dedicated UFC page for instant UFC news and updates