The UFC Freedom 250 event at the White House sent ripples through the worlds of sports and politics and culture, living up to the promise of a Rorschach test in which seemingly no two people saw the exact same thing. Now that the dust has settled, here's how the list of big winners and losers looks to this writer.
This is a safe ******* e so you can ahead and admit it: you didn't ever think Gaethje would get to call himself the one and only UFC lightweight champion.
There's no shame in being wrong about that. Since when do 37-year-old lightweights up and win the undisputed ******* le after already having had that window of opportunity slammed on their heads twice before? It simply doesn't happen.
But we made a critical error in our ******* sment of Gaethje's late-career abilities. We forgot to take into account his unique ability to somehow, some way convince his opponents to engage in a Justin Gaethje kind of fight. You know the kind. Feet firmly planted. Haymakers whistling through the air. A battle of power and toughness and good ol' stubbornness. And you're simply not going to out-stubborn this anvil-headed mule. To finally win the ******* le this way is a storybook ending for Gaethje — even though we all know it won't actually be the end.
Remember that thing Muhammad Ali said about how it ain't bragging if it's true? Actually, maybe that was Will Rogers. Regardless, Topuria's first professional defeat was a good reminder that, when you don't back it up, all that confidence — the specific predictions and promises, the celebrations before the fight even happens — it just comes off as hubris.
This is a safe ******* e so you can ahead and admit it: you didn't ever think Gaethje would get to call himself the one and only UFC lightweight champion.
There's no shame in being wrong about that. Since when do 37-year-old lightweights up and win the undisputed ******* le after already having had that window of opportunity slammed on their heads twice before? It simply doesn't happen.
But we made a critical error in our ******* sment of Gaethje's late-career abilities. We forgot to take into account his unique ability to somehow, some way convince his opponents to engage in a Justin Gaethje kind of fight. You know the kind. Feet firmly planted. Haymakers whistling through the air. A battle of power and toughness and good ol' stubbornness. And you're simply not going to out-stubborn this anvil-headed mule. To finally win the ******* le this way is a storybook ending for Gaethje — even though we all know it won't actually be the end.
Remember that thing Muhammad Ali said about how it ain't bragging if it's true? Actually, maybe that was Will Rogers. Regardless, Topuria's first professional defeat was a good reminder that, when you don't back it up, all that confidence — the specific predictions and promises, the celebrations before the fight even happens — it just comes off as hubris.
1 hr. ago
