Justin Gaethje reveals hilarious text Kamaru Usman sent him about replicating Leon Edward's KO of him against Dustin Poirier
Justin Gaethje’s UFC 291 rematch against Dustin Poirier ended in the least expected manner. ‘The Highlight’ is not particularly known for his head-kicking prowess. However, he pulled a rabbit out of the hat and scored the first head kick knockout of his 29-fight MMA career. But what made the win more dramatic was the fact that Gaethje’s teammate Kamaru Usman lost his welterweight title against Leon Edwards with the same technique, in the same arena at UFC 278!
Gaethje spoke about the eerily similar finishes during his interview with Brett Okamoto of ESPN MMA. Gaethje stated that his team does not talk about Usman’s knockout loss. However, when the MMA community started to draw parallels between both finishes, Usman sent a lighthearted text message to ‘Highlight’ to address the same. He said:
“I think in a text message he said something about me... That it was my [Kamaru Usman’s] fault that all of it got brought up. But, no… I mean just light-hearted! It’s a crazy game that we play!”
But the 34-year-old fighter believes that the similarity between both finishes that took place in Salt Lake City is nothing more than a coincidence.
“I think two different instances of time, I don’t think there’s any correlation other than they were the same. But, I mean, that had nothing to do with this. So yes, I mean the fact that it was in the same spot was pretty crazy…” Gaethje added.
Watch Justin Gaethje make the statement from the 21:15 mark of the video below:
Manager believes Justin Gaethje will ruin Conor McGregor’s legacy if they fight
Justin Gaethje has significantly raised his stock with back-to-back impressive wins over Rafael Fiziev and Dustin Poirier. While the former interim UFC lightweight champion is gunning for the third crack at the UFC title, megastar Conor McGregor called him out for a fight after UFC 291 concluded. Gaethje refused the fight initially but seems to be pondering over the decision from his recent comments.
While speaking to MMA journalist John Morgan for MMA Underground, Gaethje’s manager Ali Abdelaziz opined that fighting Justin Gaethje is probably not in the best interest of Conor McGregor. He said:
"... For him to fight Justin Gaethje, he has to make 155 lbs, and he has to pass multiple, multiple USADA drug tests because we all know what he's been doing, I think you know! I'm not gonna go ahead and accuse him because I never saw him. Plus, you know, if this is what he wants to be a part of his legacy, leaving out on a stretcher, fighting Gaethje and getting stretchered out of the arena, let it be!"
Justin Gaethje has one last title run left in him and has several options going forward. It will be interesting to see what he chooses next.