Justin Gaethje’s fourth-round doctor’s stoppage TKO over Ilia Topuria at UFC Freedom 250 drew a stunned reaction from UFC bantamweight Sean O’Malley on Saturday in Washington DC.
Gaethje defeated Topuria in the main event at the White House, handing the former two-division champion a loss after he entered the bout with a 17-1 MMA record and 9-1 mark in the UFC. Earlier that same night, O’Malley scored a knockout win over Aiemann Zahabi in Round 2.
Reacting to Gaethje’s performance, O’Malley said, "He just f*cking broke Ilia's face; he broke his mental," and added, "Ilia is at the hospital 100 percent probably for the next little while. That was one of the most crazy inspiring performances I've ever seen."
O’Malley had previously spoken of Topuria in lofty terms and did not walk that back after the defeat. "He literally broke the greatest – I was saying Ilia Topuria is the greatest fighter of all time," O’Malley said. "I put him above Khabib (Nurmagomedov), I put him above Jon Jones, and he still is. I mean, still up there. He was." He summed up the impact of the loss by adding, "Dude, the aura he lost is crazy."
