Khabib Nurmagomedov says Justin Gaethje ‘hit like a truck’ and harder than any opponent he ever faced in his UFC career.
‘The Eagle’ bowed out of MMA with a perfect 29-0 record after submitting Gaethje in two rounds to unify the lightweight belts on Fight Island in October 2020.
Nurmagomedov had already effectively cleaned out the very best in the lightweight division, having choked out Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier in his previous two fights.
Although fans were gutted he never fought Tony Ferguson, he never shied away from a challenge and faced some of the biggest punchers ever seen in the 155lbs division.
Despite overcoming McGregor’s lethal left hand and Poirier’s furious flurries, the 35-year-old has repeatedly insisted it was Gaethje who hit him harder than anyone else.
“This guy [Justin Gaethje] hit like a truck,” Nurmagomedov said to Mike Tyson on his podcast in August 2021.
READ MORE KHABIB NURMAGOMEDOV
“Nobody hit me harder than Justin Gaethje. His kick, his punch, his left hook, right hook, right uppercut.
“I make him hit me, you know. When I go to the cage and I was sitting like, ‘Okay, I’m going to go, I’m going to bring him into the deep ocean.
”I’m going to make him tired in stand-up and I’m going to bring him on the ground and finish him.”
Two years later, the Russian fight legend named Gaethje as his hardest-hitting opponent again and also explained how he broke ‘The Highlight’
Nurmagomedov told Patrick Bet-David in August 2023: “He hits like a truck, but it was one thing that broke him.
“When he hit me, I remember it was a right uppercut and left hook. It was his best shot and I told him, ‘Brother, is this everything you have?’
“I like Justin Gaethje and I was talking to him. After this combination, I told him, ‘This is everything you have.’ And at the end of the first round, he started to get tired.
“I told him, ‘This is jetlag because you came to Abu Dhabi one week before the fight. I am here one month.’
“I know where I was after one week because it is desert, and you have to be there at least a couple of weeks before the fight.
“Inside the cage, I told him, ‘Brother, you have jetlag.’”
News Summary:
- I’m a UFC legend who fought Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier – but no one hit me harder than ‘The Highlight’
- Check all news and articles from the latest Football updates.