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Justin Gaethje knows he has to create reckless abandon to get his hand raised against Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Ahead of their title fight at UFC 254, Justin Gaethje believes the only way to beat Khabib Nurmagomedov is to ‘create car crashes’ against him.
The interim lightweight champion Gaethje (22-2) handed Tony Ferguson his first loss in eight years at UFC 249 after dominating the fight for five rounds. “The Highlight” has won four straight fights at 155 pounds since his consecutive losses to Eddie Alvarez and Dustin Poirier.
Speaking on Michael Bisping’s Believe You Me podcast, Gaethje said he has to create and represent a ‘zone of death’ in front of him during his fight with Khabib.
“We’re not wrestling anymore,” Gaethje said. There’s gonna be a zone in front of me, it’s not very big. It’s gonna be a zone of death, and I have to represent death every time he enters this zone. That’s what I’m the best at, creating carnage. Creating car crashes (Transcripton via MMA Fighting).
“So my only goal when I step in there is to create as many car crashes as possible. Whether it be our bodies hitting, our heads hitting, our f**king shoulders hitting, my fist hitting his head, his fist hitting my head, it doesn’t matter – I need to create car crashes because it’s the only way to beat this guy.”
A vicious knockout artist at 155 pounds, Gaethje has picked up 19 of his 22 career wins via KO. He concluded by saying that even if he can cut off Khabib’s oxygen supply for a brief moment, he possesses the power to finish the fight.
“At the end of the day, he breathes oxygen. His brain needs to get oxygen. If I can short-circuit that oxygen supply for half a second, then he’ll go to sleep.”
No city or venue has yet been announced for the upcoming UFC 254 card on October 24th.