Justin Gaethje called for the winner of Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson assuming that fight happens next.
If Khabib Nurmagomedov does win that fight, Gaethje is confident in his skills that he would be the one to dethrone the Russian champ. He says his style of fight, will force Nurmagomedov to stand and trade with him.
“No, it will not be the same,” Gaethje said on the “UFC Unfiltered” podcast (h/t MMA Junkie). “Nothing will happen on the cage. We will fight in the center of the Octagon. As much as he’s going to want to fight on the edge of the Octagon, we’re going to fight in the center. I’m going to throw massive shots, most of them are going to come right through the middle, and I’m going to take chances, throw knees, and if he takes me down that’s fine.”
Why he is so confident in his ability is his wrestling background. He says folkstyle wrestling is the key to beating the Dagestani champion and something no one has done. Justin Gaethje knows that will be a big advantage for him.
“The thing about folkstyle wrestling, folkstyle wrestling doesn’t happen anywhere else other than the United States,” Gaethje said. “I only wrestle folkstyle. I very rarely wrestle freestyle. In folkstyle, I think the biggest factor is, you’re allowed to expose your back without giving up points, which means you scramble. So whenever he goes to take me down, I’m going to be flipping and rolling in ways that he’s never felt in his life. That’s folkstyle wrestling, being able to expose your back.
“What he’s done his whole life, these guys could never expose their backs to get out of a takedown because they were giving up points, and that’s the first thing you learn in freestyle is don’t expose your back. So you go straight to your stomach, and you give up a takedown. They also never have to get up. They just lay there for 15 seconds, then they stand them up automatically. In folkstyle wrestling, you get rewarded for getting up and escaping.”
Regardless, Justin Gaethje is just confident in his abilities that he will keep the fight standing and be the one to beat Khabib Nurmagomedov.
