Justin Gaethje’s UFC tenure prior to Saturday night, and before that as the top homegrown star of the World Series of Fighting, leads to immediate thoughts of some of the best fights in recent years.
Gaethje’s first three UFC fights were all bonafide match of the year candidates, a win over Michael Johnson and losses to Eddie Alvarez and Dustin Poirier. He already had similar fights in WSOF, seen by far few, with Luiz Firminho.
Based on those UFC performances, he was put in the main event position on Saturday night at the UFC’s debut in Lincoln, Neb.