Justin Gaethje is the new undisputed champion after Ilia Topuria’s corner stopped the fight following the fourth round of their main event clash at UFC White House on Sunday night.
Topuria, who entered as the lightweight champion and was undefeated and ranked No. 2 pound-for-pound, saw his coaches throw in the towel after four rounds, handing Gaethje the victory by corner stoppage.
Gaethje opened a cut around Topuria’s eye with an uppercut early in the fight, a moment he later highlighted, saying, "He’s such a pretty boy that he was so concerned about the blood immediately," and, "I hit him with the uppercut, he’s bleeding and he started touching it over and over and over." He added, "What I felt was in the third round, I kept jabbing the shit out of him," describing a tactical approach built around finding Topuria’s back foot.
Topuria had promised a first-round finish and said he would stop Gaethje inside two minutes, but it was Gaethje who left with the belt. Reflecting on the result, Gaethje said, "I don’t want to say anything bad about this guy. He was a world champion and I seized my opportunity to take it from him. But he is in the hospital right now and I’m not."
Looking ahead, Gaethje dismissed the idea of running it back right away. "I would say definitely not a rematch," he said. "I made him quit on the stool. I think it was three to one. I won three rounds to one. In any election, that’s a domination."
