{"id":886280,"date":"2026-09-10T00:26:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-10T00:26:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/886280\/"},"modified":"2026-09-10T00:26:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T00:26:12","slug":"justin-gaethje-exposes-ilia-topurias-major-flaw-he-predicted-at-ufc-freedom-250","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/886280\/","title":{"rendered":"Justin Gaethje exposes Ilia Topuria’s major flaw he ‘predicted’ at UFC Freedom 250"},"content":{"rendered":"

Trending:Pros react after Islam Makhachev defeats Ian Machado Garry at UFC 330<\/a>\"JustinCredit: Chris Unger\/Zuffa LLC<\/p>\n

UFC lightweight champion Justin Gaethje says one of Ilia Topuria\u2019s patterns was a major factor in pulling off the title fight upset.<\/p>\n

Justin Gaethje could potentially make his first UFC lightweight title defense later this year against the Arman Tsarukyan vs. Mauricio Ruffy winner<\/a>. Gaethje handed Ilia Topuria his first career loss by TKO at UFC Freedom 250 earlier this year.<\/p>\n

After accomplishing one of the most surprising feats in UFC history, Gaethje is looking to add more accolades to his resume. While a rematch with Topuria is unlikely to happen next, play-by-play broadcaster Jon Anik recently hinted that it\u2019s under serious consideration by the matchmakers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Gaethje\u2019s aggressive approach to the first Topuria fight was a major factor in his successful title win. For one of the few times since UFC Freedom 250, Gaethje has opened up about what he and his team focused on to prepare for Topuria.<\/p>\n

Justin Gaethje reveals Ilia Topuria\u2019s major pattern that played a key role in UFC upset<\/p>\n

In a recent appearance on the MightyCast<\/a> podcast, Gaethje was asked about the Topuria fight and a main fixture of his game plan for UFC Freedom 250.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI guess the best explanation for you to understand is his feet never change rhythms,\u201d Gaethje said of Topuria.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe never changes rhythm with his feet. It\u2019s always pop, pop, pop, pop, and it\u2019s forwards or backwards. He\u2019s very rarely moving laterally, and that\u2019s how he fights.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo ultimately it\u2019s like timing his feet and interrupting. The game plan was to interrupt his feet, especially when it\u2019s so constant. It\u2019s very easy to predict, and I\u2019ve never seen him alter from that.\u201d (h\/t MMA Fighting<\/a>)<\/p>\n

As of this writing, a timeline for Topuria\u2019s return to the Octagon remains uncertain. Joe Rogan recently cautioned Topuria<\/a> against making a swift return to the Octagon to run it back with Gaethje.<\/p>\n

Who should Justin Gaethje fight next? Share your thoughts in the comments!<\/p>\n

This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Trending:Pros react after Islam Makhachev defeats Ian Machado Garry at UFC 330Credit: Chris Unger\/Zuffa LLC UFC lightweight champion…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":886281,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[570],"tags":[64,63,786,17499,8944,785,85,787],"class_list":["post-886280","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-fighting","tag-ilia-topuria","tag-justin-gaethje","tag-mma","tag-sports","tag-ufc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/886280","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=886280"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/886280\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/886281"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=886280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=886280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=886280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}