“I Was Out of My Comfort Zone”- Justin Gaethje Talks About Facing Khabib Nurmagomedov as the Hardest Test of His Career
Former interim UFC lightweight champion Justin Gaethje spoke to the Nelk boys on the Full Send podcast in the days leading up to one of the biggest fights of his career. Gaethje will finally punch his ticket for his second title fight opportunity as he faces off against Charles Oliveira at UFC 274.
The lightweight bout serves as the headliner and comes as Gaethje’s second chance to win the belt since UFC 254.
‘The Highlight’ faced off against Khabib Nurmagomedov in a title unification bout back in October 2020 and ultimately came up short. He was submitted via triangle choke in the second round, and he earned his opportunity at gold by defeating Chandler in his next fight.
Justin Gaethje looks back at loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov
Talking on the Full Send podcast, Gaethje explained that Khabib Nurmagomedov was definitively the toughest challenge he had faced in his career. Moreover, he went on to say that the conditions of their title fight in Abu Dhabi at UFC 254 were less than conducive for an ideal result.
The food preparations, coupled with the change in time zones, were clearly stated by Gaethje to be hindering factors in his effort to win gold against Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Submission of the Year
Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Justin Gaethje – Triangle – UFC 254#WorldMMAAwards pic.twitter.com/NGbjnOFK87— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) December 11, 2021
“Khabib [Nurmagomedov]. I was out of my comfort zone. Every time when I fought Michael Chandler, when I fought Tony Ferguson, the morning I woke up, my heart rate was like between 33 and 36. The morning I woke up in Abu Dhabi, it was at 68 and when I saw that I knew something wasn’t right, but you cannot… the lack of sleep.”
“We have a process that brings me confidence, and it’s going to be the eating, the drinking. Nothing there [in Abu Dhabi] is the same. They don’t have milk, they eat goat, and lamb and I don’t. They don’t got oatmeal, they got porridge.”
However, Gaethje has always been a straight shooter, and he went on record to say that the aforementioned hindrances shouldn’t be considered as an excuse. He considers ‘The Eagle’ to be the pound-for-pound best fighter in the modern era and opened the door to the fact that he could have lost to Nurmagomedov regardless of the circumstances.
