If you happened to miss the card and its main attraction at T-Mobile Arena in Enterprise, NV, No. 4 contender Justin Gaethje (27-5 MMA, 10-5 UFC) defeated No. 5 contender Paddy Pimblett (23-4 MMA, 7-1 UFC) by unanimous decision after 25 minutes of action. Gaethje won the UFC Interim Lightweight Championship.
While the UFC has yet to announce a concrete date for the UFC Lightweight Championship fight between now-interim titleholder Justin Gaethje and permanent champion Ilia Topuria (17-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC), Jorge Masvidal has already provided a look at the final showdown. This week he took to the world of podcasts to give his opinion.
Jorge Masvidal thinks Pimblett would have been exposed against Topuria
During the day the latest edition from Masvidal himself Death Row MMA podcast he discussed last weekend’s match and how fortunate Paddy Pimblett was spared a fight against Ilia Topuria.
“It’s a good thing Paddy didn’t win either,” Jorge Masvidal began, “because if he did he’d be set on fire by Ilia. [Topuria.] During Saturday night’s fight, the takedown category told the story of the winner and loser of this fight.
In the five-round affair, Paddy Pimblett went 0-for-5 on takedown attempts. On the other side of the coin, Justin Gaethje successfully converted all three of his attempts to bring Paddy Pimblett to the mat.
Jorge Masvidal predicts an even tougher test for Justin Gaethje
While Justin Gaethje managed to neutralize Paddy Pimblett during 25 minutes of action last Saturday night, the road is only expected to get bumpier for the interim champion when he and Ilia Topuria eventually face off. Masvidal didn’t hold back in his comments about Gaethje.
“I think Gaethje is just going to back off and ride off into the sunset because he [doesn’t] I want to see Ilia,” he said. “I think these guys are just a level below Ilia and that fight really showed everything, in terms of wrestling, striking, defense, attacking. I think Ilia is on a whole different planet when it comes to these guys.”
According to Masvidal, Justin Gaethje may not have much of a chance to beat Ilia Topuria.
“Hopefully they give him Justin Gaethje like that [that] He can take another man and treat him like a lawn chair,” Jorge Masvidal said. “He’s going to fold it.”
Masvidal’s comments continue
From there, Masvidal talked about how Ilia Topuria’s skill level could yield to Justin Gaethje’s downfall in the final battle between the two of them.
“Ilia is a different speed, a different type of athlete,” he mused, “and Gaethje always had the same mistakes he always made in stand-up. He still makes them when he lunges and gets hit by those rights. Ilia does the same thing.”
At this point, Jorge Masvidal made a bold statement about how he sees the fight on that particular Saturday night happening in the future.
“He’s going to end his career there and then,” he said.
Final thoughts
While Jorge Masvidal ended his comments on Justin Gaethje’s eventual bid to unify the UFC Lightweight Championship on a sour note with a Topuria stoppage in the opening round, they are just that: comments. At the end of the day, fighters and fans alike can predict and pontificate on upcoming fights in marathon fashion.
The predictions and commentary to come between now and the night of the unification battle will surely rival the non-stop conjecture that awaits NFL fans between now and the kickoff of Super Bowl LX on the evening of February 8 in Santa Clara, CA. You can dissect the New England Patriots versus the Seattle Seahawks to your heart’s content over the next week and a half.
No one will stop or limit you. Jorge Masvidal can return to the topic of the unification battle as many times as he wants until the evening of the match. No one will stop and limit him.
The salient point to take from all of this is simple: At its core, predictions and predictions about how a major sporting event like the Super Bowl or this fight will hold little weight once the event is about to happen. The most important thing is what actually happens.
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