"His face is going to look like Tony Ferguson's" - Justin Gaethje has chilling warning for Charles Oliveira as he analyzes the champion's skills

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Justin Gaethje sends Charles Oliveira an ominous warning [Photo credit: UFC.com]

Justin Gaethje is confident that he can do to Charles Oliveira what he did to Tony Ferguson if the champion is unable to bring the fight to the ground.

Gaethje, of course, became the interim UFC lightweight champion by thoroughly outstriking Ferguson in their main event fight at UFC 249 back in May 2020. It was a wire-to-wire domination for 'The Highlight,' who bloodied and battered Ferguson for nearly five rounds.

After the fight, Ferguson was reduced to a bloody, unrecognizable mess and has never looked like the same fighter since. During an interview with Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports, Gaethje warned Oliveira that the same could be in store for him. The top-ranked UFC lightweight said:

"I think, yeah, he's gonna have to take it to the ground. If not, he's gonna look like Tony Ferguson. His face is gonna look like Tony Ferguson's."

Check out Justin Gaethje's comments below:

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Justin Gaethje provides a breakdown of his fight against Charles Oliveira

Justin Gaethje has been critical of Charles Oliveira in the past. 'The Highlight' even went as far as calling the Brazilian a "quitter" and vowed to expose his lack of toughness.

Right now, though, Gaethje believes he's going to face a new and improved version of Oliveira. However, he apparently remains unimpressed with some of the champion's skills, particularly his takedowns.

"I think the confidence that he's here with, I think his maturity, I think those are the factors that are different. He's got great jiu-jitsu and he's really good at stand-up, but his takedowns aren't super effective. He falls into positions. He uses trips. He had a nice double-leg against Michael Chandler – that was impressive – but a lot of it is gonna be him putting him against the fence and working in that situation. Its not close the distance and dragging through me."

'Do Bronx' was once seen as an action fighter, not necessarily capable of climbing the proverbial mountaintop. However, the Brazilian recently silenced his doubters with impressive stoppage wins over Michael Chandler and Dustin Poirier.

Gaethje will challenge Oliveira in the main event of UFC 274 on Saturday, May 7. The championship showdown will take place at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona.

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