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00:05These insights are brought to you by UFC Insights Engine, built with IBM Watson X.
00:12A lot of numbers upon which you could drop Iliato Porte has landed and knocked down in six straight fights.
00:17Longest active streak in the UFC.
00:21All right, here we go with your championship tail to take.
00:23Brought to you by Crypto.com, the world's leading cryptocurrency platform, celebrating its 10-year anniversary.
00:27Justin Gaethje is 37.
00:29Iliato Porte at 29, Gaethje has four inches in height.
00:32Less pronounced in reach where the American fighter will have a reach advantage of one inch.
00:37Gaethje, the interim champ, Iliato Porte at 29, Gaethje has four inches in height.
00:45In the backdrop, in your main event's introductions, Bruce Stoffel.
00:49Ladies and gentlemen, this is the main event of the evening.
00:56Stacked by the Association of Combat Commissions.
01:00Our three judges scoring this contest at Octagon Sidar, Ben Cartlidge, Derek Cleary, and Sal D'Amato.
01:06And when the action begins, our referee in charge of the Octagon, Mark Goddard.
01:11Tonight's main event is brought to you by Superfile, protecting your files from hackers, cyber criminals, and that guy who
01:19uses the word password as his password.
01:29For those in attendance and UFC fans watching around the world, this is the moment you've all been waiting for.
01:40Live from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C.
01:55It's time!
02:00Five rounds for the undisputed UFC Lifeweight Championship of the World!
02:10Introducing first, fighting out of the blue corner, a mixed martial artist holding a professional record, 27 wins, 5 losses.
02:19He stands, 5 feet 11 inches tall, weighing in at 155 pounds, fighting out of Denver, Colorado, by way of
02:27Sanford, Arizona.
02:28He is the former UFC BMF champion, and the two-time interim UFC lightweight champion, presenting the challenger, Justin the
02:47Highlight Gensher.
02:56And now, introducing his opponent, fighting out of the red corner, an undefeated mixed martial artist, holding a perfect professional
03:04record, 17 wins, no losses.
03:07He stands, 5 feet 7 inches tall, weighing in at 155 pounds, fighting out of Alicante, Spain, presenting the former
03:18UFC featherweight champion,
03:20and the reigning, defending, undisputed, UFC lightweight champion of the world,
03:33Ilya Embankador Toporeo!
03:47Okay, gentlemen, you understand the rules, you're fine, they're listening to me all the time to keep yourself protected.
03:51When I say stop, you stop, if you want to touch through it now.
03:54God bless.
03:57The tension is palpable, as they say.
04:00About 4,300 people with us here on the South Lawn, another 80,000 not far away on the Ellipse.
04:06Thank you, Chrissie, ready to go.
04:09And that is the belt that is on the line here at UFC Freedom 250.
04:14The calm, cool, and collective Ilya Toporeo is in the blue center of the Octagon.
04:18Justin Gaethje working off of that jab early, is in what?
04:21That was a stiff jab by Gaethje there.
04:34Gaethje's jab.
04:35Gaethje being hurt from early, that's three.
04:36Nice low kick by Ilya.
04:42Nice uppercut by Gaethje.
04:47Gaethje had to wait a long time, but off to an outstanding start.
04:53It's almost like Toporeo doesn't respect what Justin's throwing at him.
04:57Oh, nice leg kick.
04:58That's another one from Toporeo.
05:00Justin needs to throw his leg kick.
05:04Oh, big right hand from Toporeo after Gaethje appeared to land.
05:09Gaethje landed a good right hand there, and Toporeo came back with a right hand of his own.
05:13Toporeo is so slick, the way he holds his hands up and moves with punches.
05:17Oh!
05:18Right hand over the top.
05:20Nice right hand there by Justin Gaethje.
05:21Counter got through for the American.
05:23Nice uppercut.
05:25But you can just see, like, the difference in the power, or at least the way Toporeo throws.
05:30It seems like his is taking more of an effect.
05:32So precise.
05:33There's a clean right hand by Ilya.
05:36Gaethje pursues the clinch.
05:39Nice uppercut by Gaethje.
05:47Really good start for the underdog, Gaethje.
05:50Landed 15 of 26 significant strikes already.
05:52Remember, Gaethje throws so many leg kicks, he doesn't do that anymore.
05:56I think that would benefit him with Toporeo having such a heavy boxing style.
06:00And Toporeo is already bloodied up on that right side.
06:03Oh!
06:04Clean right hand.
06:05He's so fast.
06:06And precise.
06:07He's so quick.
06:10Appears as though it was an uppercut that opened Toporeo up.
06:14Oh, nice jab by Justin.
06:15Nice jab by JZ.
06:16It's when Justin grabs that single.
06:18He fakes a single and grabs an uppercut.
06:24Oh, another nice jab.
06:26The timing in that jab is nice.
06:30Toporeo to the body.
06:31Continues to invest in that old leg kick as well.
06:34That uppercut by Justin is landing.
06:35Just the back of Justin.
06:42Gaethje particularly sharp early.
06:44Toporeo closes the distance.
06:45Right hand partially lands for Gaethje.
06:52Oh, another jab.
06:53They traded jabs there.
06:55Ooh.
06:56Yeah, but Gaethje is solid.
06:59Oh, another uppercut there in tight.
07:02When Toporeo closes the distance,
07:03Justin grabs his leg and it throws an uppercut at the middle.
07:08Under two now to go in round one.
07:10Toporeo is going to just keep pressing though.
07:14Oh!
07:15Justin beautiful right hand.
07:18Couldn't ask for a much better stone for Justin Gaethje.
07:21Closed plus 350 or so.
07:23Trading at 29% right now.
07:25And Polymark and a big right hand from Gaethje.
07:29Huge opening round so far for the challenger.
07:35But you also know the danger is always there from Toporeo.
07:39But as you get damage put on you, you lose power.
07:43Toporeo better get going.
07:46Oh, right hand by Toporeo and a left hook behind it.
07:51Keethje is still able to follow up with his own offense.
07:53Now thinks about wrestling.
07:54Oh, two last ones by Toporeo inside.
07:57And Iliad just throws hard whenever he gets in close.
08:00He talks about his ability in the pocket.
08:05Oh!
08:06They're trading early.
08:09Oh!
08:10Oh!
08:12Oh, my goodness.
08:13These dudes are going at it.
08:14This is wild.
08:15An absolutely incredible start to round one.
08:19This is a crazy face, too.
08:22Crazy.
08:25Toporeo's got under 30 seconds to make good on his round.
08:28One knockout prediction.
08:30Gaethje goes high.
08:31Nice left hook to the body, but Toporeo right hand over the top.
08:34Good combination by Iliad.
08:38I mean, he's got to go through it.
08:40Oh, my goodness.
08:40Oh, my goodness.
08:41He's got to the body.
08:42Oh, right hand.
08:44Late pressure in the round from Toporeo.
08:46Oh, Toporeo shot his neck.
08:48Oh, and Gaethje with a nice right hand on the inside.
08:52Wow, what a round.
08:54Woo!
08:58We have not seen Toporeo bloody up like this in a while.
09:01If ever.
09:07This is the start.
09:16Nice haircut there by Gaethje.
09:20The jab.
09:21He lowers a lot.
09:22That he landed a boatload in that first round.
09:24Another little left hand by Gaethje.
09:29Beautiful right hand over the top by JG.
09:32But then Toporeo had moments, a lot of moments towards the end of that round.
09:35Toporeo started to get Justin to reach and move in an awkward way.
09:39And it seemed like he was starting to get a beat on Gaethje.
09:41Rip that left hook to the body multiple times.
09:44And the numbers would tell you, albeit unofficially, that Toporeo outlanded Gaethje 39-37.
09:49And Ilya landed at a 67% clip, 47% for Gaethje through five minutes.
09:58All right, here we go.
09:59Round two of a possible five for the UFC lightweight title.
10:05Gaethje started to stand a little bit in front of the Poirier too much.
10:10Ilya is so explosive.
10:11You cannot allow him to set his feet.
10:21The thing about Gaethje is, Ilya is a little shorter than him.
10:24So when he enters, Gaethje just kind of puts his jab out there and lets him run into it.
10:29You see that?
10:30But now Ilya is fainting before he moves in to try to lure out that jab.
10:36Oh, rip to the bottom.
10:38Tonight's social media posts are brought to you by Threads for conversations happening inside and outside the Octagon.
10:42Take it to Threads.
10:48That feint has changed it already.
10:50Look at it, he's got him reaching.
10:54Toporeo connects to the net.
10:56Oh!
10:56And both guys land on that exchange.
11:04Oh, another uppercut.
11:06Toporeo continuing his investment in the body just prior.
11:09Toporeo just presses you forward with that measured forward pressure.
11:18I love that single leg to the collar tie uppercut by Gaethje.
11:24Toporeo is bleeding for the nose now as well.
11:31Gaethje jab momentarily keeps Toporeo and pay.
11:34Now a nice jab from the champ.
11:37Right hand by Toporeo.
11:38Gaethje seems to be kind of rolling as Toporeo throws the right hand.
11:41Oh, that's a huge right from Gaethje.
11:44Toporeo with a great chin, ate it pretty well.
11:49Nice jab by Justin.
11:50Oh!
11:51Good jab by Justin.
11:52Oh, nice uppercut again.
11:56The body, man, that body's hurting.
11:58Oh, the big right hand for Toporeo.
12:00Gaethje fires back as usual.
12:01That left hook to the body is muddy for Toporeo.
12:04Toporeo's left hook is real powerful.
12:06Here it comes in.
12:07There it is.
12:08Rips to the body.
12:10Right in front of us.
12:11Oh!
12:11To the liver.
12:12That would hurt him!
12:13Again.
12:17Oh, Gaethje just out of range with the uppercut.
12:19Toporeo continues to apply pressure.
12:21Reset there for Gaethje.
12:23Oh, to the point with an uppercut there.
12:25He's digging that body shot.
12:27Gaethje's trying everything.
12:32Here comes that left hand.
12:33Yep.
12:33Gaethje tries to tuck the elbows.
12:35Oh, my goodness.
12:37Gaethje bloody batter firing back.
12:39The procedure.
12:40Oh, he goes down!
12:41Oh, he hurt him with that liver shot.
12:46Gaethje in a world of trouble.
12:47Real trouble here.
12:48Real trouble.
12:49The amount to the work.
12:51Oh!
12:54He's got his back.
12:59Toporeo's on the armbar here.
13:05Toporeo bails on the armbar for now.
13:07I mean, that body work was crazy by Toporeo.
13:09And we have seen him do this before on multiple occasions.
13:12Look for the triangle here.
13:14Oh, Toporeo's going triangle from the top.
13:16Watch her out, Justin.
13:18Ape wins by submission for the BJJ Black Belt.
13:21Toporeo.
13:21And now he can switch armbar.
13:28He's going to roll him over with the leg.
13:29Oh, that was nice, Joe.
13:31Beautiful.
13:32Justin's got to come up now.
13:34Explode.
13:34There it is.
13:36Toporeo got side control.
13:38Gaethje staying smart in the face of pressure.
13:40About to get mounted here.
13:42I mean, Ilya's grappling as a lead, too.
13:44You see that right now, the way he's moving around Gaethje.
13:48A lot of energy expended on both sides.
13:51A lot of offense from Toporeo.
13:54Gaethje's got to be trying to find a way to get to the end of this round.
13:59Those body shots are very tired.
14:02Ilya's showing some signs of fatigue right now, as well.
14:05Yep.
14:05Really went for it in the second round.
14:08I mean, the pace is insane.
14:19He may be riding this out.
14:21Yeah.
14:21Oh, he has to.
14:22Right?
14:22This round's at the back.
14:23This is Ilya's round.
14:24Ilya caught a tremendous second round.
14:25Heard him back to the body.
14:26Looked like he was going to finish it.
14:28But now Justin gets to go to his stool, try to recover.
14:31He tried to refocus for a third round.
14:33What a fight.
14:33What a fight through 10 and a critical 60 seconds on the stools here before round three.
14:41Sit down.
14:43Yeah.
14:45Good.
14:46Slowly bring him back.
14:49Hey.
14:50Good body shot.
14:51Hey, that was a good body shot.
14:52Hey.
14:53Start pressing him.
14:54Start pressing him.
14:55No more backwards.
14:55He's pushing you back to the fence.
14:56Press him and time him.
14:58You either drop step or you open your left foot.
15:00You got me?
15:00And start bringing the low kick now.
15:02He's forgot about it.
15:02You have to dig into him though.
15:04Okay?
15:04No more falling back.
15:05You got me?
15:06Deep breath.
15:07Here we go.
15:08Big drink for me.
15:08This is on you.
15:09This is on you.
15:10Drink.
15:11Good.
15:12Another one.
15:12Another one.
15:15Good job.
15:16Hey.
15:16Stay focused.
15:17This is where we change.
15:18Forward.
15:19Left pressure.
15:20Left pressure.
15:20He's bringing the low kick.
15:21Kick him off his feet.
15:22He almost slapped with the right hand.
15:24He was slapping up top.
15:26Not even really making a fist.
15:27Left hook.
15:27To open up that left hook to the body.
15:29Trevor Whitman doing a great job centering Justin Gaethje.
15:32And again, with pointed advice, he wants forward motion.
15:36This scene is so surreal.
15:37The fog is rolling through the cage.
15:40This fight is incredible.
15:41He wants Gaethje pressing forward.
15:43He's allowing Toporia to back him up.
15:45This is good for Gaethje.
15:46Get close.
15:47Get in contact.
15:48Try to clinch and hold him.
15:49Because Ilya...
15:50I mean, both of them are fatigued.
15:51The pace has been so high.
15:52But Ilya did look a little tired going back to the end of that round.
16:02Toporia landing a remarkable 72% of his significant strikes.
16:07John, 60-something percent in the first round, 70 in the second.
16:11It's crazy.
16:12It does appear to be a little bit fatigued.
16:14Coach Dean Thomas, what do you got?
16:15This is a bad spot for Gaethje.
16:17It seems physically at times he ended that round bad.
16:19But it's not all that bad for him because he's been in these wars before.
16:23He's got to be able to draw from that experience and take Toporia into a war.
16:26Because we've never seen Toporia in a war.
16:28So Gaethje does have some advantages as the way this fight is playing out.
16:31And there was the low kick from Gaethje.
16:33And that was what Trevor Whitman was calling for in the corner.
16:35He said he's not going to anticipate it.
16:37He landed it hard.
16:38Well, Ilya is waiting because he's trying to get his second win.
16:41Justin's got to get to right now and not allow him to rebuild his win.
16:44That's a great read, champ.
16:45Ilya Toporia has been 25 minutes of the UFC against Josh Emmett back in 2023.
16:49It was a fight of the night, but largely it was one-way traffic.
16:51Right.
16:52And that's the difference, right?
16:53He's taken damage.
16:54He's been hit.
16:55But if you're Justin, you want to do what Trevor Whitman said, you've got to start kicking that leg.
16:59Justin looks fresher right now.
17:00Ilya looks like he really drained himself trying to finish.
17:03And he looks much slower right now.
17:05And there's like a power threat still because he hits so hard.
17:07But that threat goes down from 10 to like 6 when you start getting it around 3, 4, and 5.
17:14Well, and I don't have to tell you guys, but wrestling and grappling is exhausting.
17:16Gaethje oftentimes will say he doesn't wrestle a lot in MMA because he's worried about it.
17:22There's that jab again by Gaethje.
17:24Gaethje hits the fresher fight.
17:25Oh!
17:26And he hurt him.
17:27Huge fight for Gaethje.
17:29Don't shoot! Don't shoot! Don't shoot!
17:32He hurt Toporia bad.
17:35Toporia was almost standing in front of him just waiting.
17:39Hard to see the extent to which Toporia has recovered.
17:41Huge moment for Gaethje midway through round 3.
17:44Huge moment.
17:47And here come the USA chants here on the sub-line.
17:51USA! USA! USA! USA!
17:55Toporia back to his feet.
17:56Toporia is in trouble.
17:58He's beat bad.
17:59Look at his face.
18:00We've never seen Ilya Toporia like this before.
18:03His face battered.
18:06Cut over the right eye.
18:07Bruising over the left eye.
18:09And that's not going to help matters even if partially blocked.
18:12Look at his face.
18:14His face is destroyed right now.
18:16We've never seen him like this.
18:18And when Toporia throws offense, Gaethje now making him pay.
18:22But Gaethje's got to press him a little bit.
18:24Because like you said, I think that was such a great point.
18:27Dean's point.
18:28Toporia has not experienced these war.
18:30We've seen Gaethje in these constantly.
18:33But we're still only in the third.
18:35Yeah.
18:35He's got to save some.
18:36But if Gaethje actually allows for him to build back into this fight,
18:40I believe that Ilya will start to take over again.
18:43Perhaps.
18:43But if Gaethje can still do this.
18:45If Ilya really wants himself out.
18:47And if he can continue to chip away at him like this.
18:51Another right hand there landed by Gaethje.
18:55Right hand again.
18:58Ilya's in real trouble.
19:00Look at his face.
19:01Oh.
19:02Gaethje almost fell over.
19:03Oh.
19:04Oh.
19:05Gaethje, Gaethje, Gaethje, Gaethje, Gaethje, Gaethje, Gaethje.
19:11You hear the Gaethje chants.
19:12You can imagine how raucous it is over on the Ellipse right now.
19:15One minute now to go around three.
19:17Toporia fires back.
19:18He's searching for that body shot again.
19:22Oh, yeah.
19:23Nice right hand by the champion.
19:24Acknowledge by Gaethje.
19:25Oh.
19:26Oh, then he heard him.
19:27He is hurting Toporia back with that right hand.
19:32Toporia circles away.
19:34Body language.
19:35Not ideal.
19:38Oh, my goodness.
19:39This is crazy.
19:40This is crazy.
19:42We have never seen the champion look like this in a fight before.
19:46Gaethje presses forward with a knee.
19:51Justin earlier in his career with throw leg kicks from inside the clinch.
19:57Toporia's only fought a handful of times at lightweight in the UFC.
20:00This is first title defense tonight.
20:02Oh, my goodness.
20:03That was a massive problem with Gaethje.
20:05Nice knee to the leg there by Gaethje.
20:07The tie turns in round.
20:14Look at his face as he goes back to his corner.
20:17Oh, my goodness.
20:18I've never seen Ilya look like this before.
20:23I want to see his body language.
20:24I want to see what his body tells me in between rounds.
20:28Doctor, because he can see with this eyes.
20:30You hear that?
20:31He can see in the right eyes.
20:35You cannot see it.
20:37Call the doctor.
20:38They're calling for the doctor.
20:39They're calling for the doctor in the corner.
20:40This is crazy.
20:43Is he saying he can't see?
20:45You can see it.
20:46I cannot see anything.
20:47Oh, it's over.
20:48If he says that, the doctor's going to stop the fight.
20:51They're going to stop the fight.
20:52They're going to stop the fight.
20:54How are you feeling?
20:56If he says he can't see, they're going to stop this.
20:58Look at me.
20:58Do you want to continue?
21:01Of course.
21:01Yeah, I want to continue.
21:05Give him water.
21:06Oh, my goodness.
21:07Oh, my goodness.
21:10Iliya.
21:13Get it away from me.
21:15Get it away from me.
21:17Time.
21:18Time.
21:18All right, Mark Goddard is now called time, given the ringside position a chance to make his decision.
21:22Yeah, but this is allowing him to recover.
21:24Yeah, this is not the way it's supposed to be.
21:26This allows the pour you more time.
21:29The referee's not the fight.
21:30The doctor's saying no.
21:31The doctor's saying no.
21:32Hey, hey.
21:35Oh, this is crazy.
21:36But this is crazy.
21:38Mark Goddard taking his time as the best in the business.
21:40But this guy needs to get, they need to get fighting.
21:43He can lay.
21:44Hey.
21:44Locked up.
21:45Locked up.
21:45Stop missing.
21:46Locked up.
21:48This is more time for Iliya to recover, though.
21:51This is not good.
21:52None of this is good.
21:52He's going to let it go.
21:53He's going to let it go.
21:54But this is crazy.
21:55They gave him another miniature minute.
21:57Yeah, he got another minute to recover.
21:58That is wild.
22:02Tonight's championship rounds are brought to you by Ram Trucks.
22:06Nothing stops Ram.
22:07Seemed like the doctor was ready to stop the fight.
22:12We will continue now with round four.
22:15But if you're Teporia, you've got two minutes in between.
22:18You've got to take advantage of the extra time you've got to recover.
22:21And it was exactly a full extra minute on the screws, two minutes between rounds.
22:25That's crazy.
22:26Yeah, but then one of our producers said Gaethje did, too.
22:29But Gaethje wasn't the one that was struggling as bad with the cardio.
22:32Exactly.
22:33And he wasn't the one that was hurt badly.
22:36And Iliya looks better already.
22:38And I'm not saying he's just a minute.
22:40I'm just saying that he looks like he's ready to fight now.
22:44But that guy would not quit.
22:45Iliya, Teporia, he's not going to quit on himself.
22:48He's going to keep trying to fight.
22:49Another hard right hand.
22:50He's not seeing him.
22:52Beautiful throw by Gaethje.
22:53Yo, this is so smart.
22:55To just make him work.
22:57Make him fight, yes.
22:58Make him work in every situation.
23:01Teporia covering up.
23:02Gaethje continues to throw offense his way.
23:06They're talking to each other.
23:12Huge shot from Gaethje.
23:15Nice jab from Justin.
23:19Nice leg kick there by Teporia.
23:21What an absolute war for the lightweight title.
23:25I have never seen Iliya Teporia's face this beat up.
23:28Justin Gaethje hit so hard.
23:31That is what guys have said when we asked all those great lightweights.
23:35Poirier.
23:35To be, yes, who hit you the hardest?
23:38They said Justin Gaethje almost unanimously.
23:40Well, coming in here, Teporia had two minutes and 27 seconds of fight time against an elite lightweight.
23:45Gaethje had hours.
23:46So, there were a lot of advantages that maybe the public didn't see on the Gaethje side.
23:50He's got a lead here with eight or so minutes.
23:53Also, Gaethje is physically a much larger man.
23:55Oh, another right hand.
23:56Iliya just touched his left eye and Justin kind of, like, almost gestured at him.
24:02Look at the swelling around that left eye.
24:04It's crazy.
24:10Iliya Teporia.
24:11Oh, nice right hand by Teporia.
24:13That might hurt Gaethje.
24:16That was a big right hand.
24:18Iliya Teporia.
24:19Iliya Teporia.
24:20Iliya Teporia.
24:21Iliya Teporia.
24:21That might hurt Gaethje.
24:21It changed whenever Gaethje was the one that started taking the center.
24:25Teporia seems to be until I'm going for it again.
24:28Gaethje makes his head.
24:29And now a knee.
24:30Teporia with the body and a right hand.
24:32Gaethje circles out under two and a half to go round four.
24:35Iliya Teporia's exchange jabs.
24:41Oh, big right hand.
24:43And immediately answered by Gaethje.
24:45That uppercut.
24:46That uppercut's hurting him.
24:47Yeah, that might be.
24:48That would bother him bad.
24:49He's hurt.
24:51Yeah, there's a ball protrusion on the right side there.
24:53Oh, my goodness.
24:56Teporia is absolutely battered in that facial reach.
25:01Another two and a half to go.
25:02Tussin is just so used to the head of walls.
25:04And you've got to think that that right eye is swelling up like that.
25:07That left eye is swelling like that.
25:11Oh, that was a nice job by the truck.
25:14Isolating that front of the eye.
25:19That's the reaction, perhaps, from Teporia.
25:30I've got to give it to support you, man.
25:33At the end of that third round, it didn't look like he was done.
25:35Oh, look at this.
25:36And he is fighting a really good fourth round now.
25:39This is a terrible situation for Justin.
25:42Oh, elbow.
25:43To be this exhausted and to get mounted like this.
25:46I mean, we might be going into a round, a fifth round, where this thing is two to two.
25:50Yeah.
25:51Because Teporia has already a really good fourth round.
25:54And Justin can explode out of this.
25:56He's almost out.
25:57Oh, okay.
25:58Oh!
26:07Teporia and Teporia have each landed 131 total strikes.
26:15Teporia with a take down or a good entry?
26:18Good throw.
26:24That's not a good sign for Takori that he bailed on that takedown attempt.
26:28Well, Justin got his hips down.
26:30Keiji needs to be punching, though. He's got to be working.
26:32He's got to try to make Ilya work through this last 20 seconds of the round.
26:3610 seconds.
26:40Knee by Keiji, round four.
26:44He's in serious pain from that shot to the body.
26:46Oh, that knee hurt.
26:47Wow.
26:48That knee hurt him bad.
26:51Keiji's tired.
26:53Alex.
26:54Okay.
26:56He just said something to his brother.
26:58No, no, no, no.
26:59We finished the fight.
27:00We finished the fight.
27:01We finished the fight.
27:01No, we finished the fight.
27:02It's almost like he's trying to not finish.
27:03And that'll do it.
27:04That's it.
27:05Unbelievable.
27:06And new champion, Justin Keiji with the ultimate career capstone at the White House.
27:16He retired on his stool.
27:19Oh, my goodness.
27:21Ilya Toputia's brother tried to say we're going to finish the fight, but Toputia could not.
27:25And new.
27:28Unbelievable.
27:30Geez.
27:30Doubt him now, the American Justin Keiji.
27:33One of the great upsets in the history of the sport.
27:36That's crazy.
27:37That's one of the biggest upsets, especially with how bad Ilya had in the second round.
27:43Come on.
27:44Well, perhaps in terms of the betting line, but given everything that Justin Keiji had accomplished
27:49in this lightweight division, you've got to think some segment of the fan base and the
27:54pundits are not surprised that he was able to get his brand of violence on Ilya Toputia.
28:00I mean, if we talk about this constantly, he is just the master of brutality.
28:05And he just systematically broke Ilya Toputia down.
28:08He was hurt bad at times in this fight.
28:11And he was able to just keep fighting.
28:13And, I mean, put one of the biggest upsets I've seen.
28:16I mean, that was a uphill battle from the moment this fight was announced that Justin Keiji would get the
28:21job done.
28:21But he believed, and he did.
28:23And certainly it'll be interesting to see what sort of rebuild is in store for Ilya Toputia.
28:28But tonight belongs to the Safford, Arizona native and proud American.
28:34The highlight, Justin Keiji on top of the MMA world.
28:42Okay, they're saying that the corner stopped the fight.
28:45All right, we're being told one of the corner men stopped the fight.
28:48It certainly wasn't his brother who said, audibly, we are going to finish the fight.
28:51Yeah, one of the corner men stopped the fight.
28:54And Justin Keiji is the new undisputed lightweight champion.
28:57That's crazy, man.
28:59The one thing that had eluded Justin Keiji with that undisputed title,
29:02not anymore as he will lower his mom, his dad.
29:05The support that this family gives Justin is crazy.
29:08And tonight he went out there to represent himself, his family, and the United States of America.
29:14John, we spoke about storylines the whole night.
29:17If that was a setting for a monumental upset, it was this.
29:22And Justin Keiji just did it.
29:25They continue to attend to Ilya Toputia.
29:28Perhaps it was Javier Clement who stopped the fight to try to protect his fighter to fight another day.
29:34Gaethje goes over to acknowledge Toputia.
29:36Those two fighters forever linked, but JG got it done.
29:40It's kind of crazy, though, because I thought Toputia's fourth round was his best round in a while.
29:46But right here you see Gaethje with the beautiful right hand.
29:48Boom, that's the one that hurt Toputia.
29:50I mean, Ilya's face is just destroyed.
29:53Big right hand by Gaethje, drops Toputia.
29:56Justin jumped on that dart choke.
29:59Another right hand.
30:00I mean, once Toputia's eyes swole shut, Gaethje could not miss with the right hand.
30:04And then watch at the end of this round.
30:07Justin, oh, my God, knees him right at the rib.
30:10And you can see Toputia immediately take his left elbow back.
30:13You can tell he was hurt bad.
30:15By the way he got up to go back to his stool, you can tell that Ilya was very hurt.
30:20And you remember back in the day when Justin Gaethje first won the Interim Lightweight Championship.
30:28He unceremoniously tossed the belt on the ground, and now he's the undisputed champ.
30:32But we saw Alexander Toputia say,
30:37we're going to finish the fight, but somebody else got involved.
30:40All eyes on the highlight, Justin Gaethje.
30:42We'll talk to him next as we roll on where this is Paramount+.
30:48Welcome to the greatest. Love you when you hit us.
30:51Welcome to the greatest with your show.
30:54Hey, hey, it's me. When do you think you're going?
30:58Well, the Mac is back.
30:59Irish megastar Conor McGregor returns to the octagon to face Hawaii's finest Max Holloway.
31:03One man hunts the knockout. The other never stops coming forward.
31:06McGregor, Holloway, act two, non-legends need not apply.
31:09UFC 329, live July 11th.
31:10The team over the arena in Vegas, and only on Paramount+.
31:13All right, one final time tonight. Here is Bruce Buffett.
31:17Ladies and gentlemen, at the end of the fourth round,
31:20your winner by TKO due to corner stoppage.
31:24And now, undisputed UFC lightweight champion of the world,
31:42Justin Gaethje.
31:52Ladies and gentlemen, I am here with the winner and new UFC lightweight champion of the world, Justin Gaethje.
32:00Justin, you have been waiting for this moment your entire career, and to win it in such a spectacular fashion,
32:07in a fight where you were in some points six to one underdog. How good does this feel?
32:14Hey, I'm from America. 250 years ago, we were way bigger than six to one dogs.
32:19And look at this thriving now. To all the current, former, and future military service members, thank you so much.
32:26Thank you so much to all the first responders, the police officers, firefighters, ambulance, EMTs.
32:32Please, you guys have no idea how grateful I am. And for as long as I'm able to, I will
32:37use my name to make money and support you guys.
32:40First and foremost, thank you. And all glory to God, I prayed so much for this opportunity to do something
32:46legendary.
32:47And I know that was absolutely legendary, because I cannot even believe it. Wow.
32:53It's one of the biggest upsets in the history of the sport, but you are one of the most durable
32:58and legendary fighters this sport has ever seen.
33:01And you proved that tonight. There was moments in the fight where you were badly hurt, but you rebounded, regrouped,
33:07and did your damage.
33:08Yeah, I knew. I knew I was going to have to get through the first round. His skills are unmatched
33:14when he's fresh and I'm fresh.
33:15But my durability, my tenacity, and my heart will carry me through those first couple rounds.
33:21And nobody can outwork me in round three, and especially the championship rounds four and five.
33:25Take a look at some of these replays here, because you caught him with some beautiful shots and badly damaged
33:31him.
33:31And then this was a big one. At the end of that round, that knee to the body hurt him
33:35badly.
33:36He came back to his corner. They tried to get him to continue, but he couldn't.
33:40Well, I owed him that, because he hurt me in my liver so bad.
33:43And again, hard work, baby. My mom's a Mexican warrior spirit.
33:48I got my dad's German hard ass thick bones. And I am made for these moments.
33:53This sport was made for me. And I've shown you why.
33:56I'm the most consistent, most exciting guy that's ever been in this cage.
34:00You certainly have. I've watched UFC from day one. I'm a huge fan.
34:03That's the only reason why I tried it. And unmatched, I'm telling you.
34:07Well, you've been always described as the most violent man in the most violent sport.
34:11Look at this tonight. The UFC 250 belts. And this one, the undisputed lightweight championship of the world.
34:19The thing that you've been chasing your entire career.
34:21Yeah. Like, again, I have such an opposite mindset as to why he was putting out there.
34:27I told myself I was going to lose. I told myself I was going to get embarrassed so that I
34:30can go to my most primal place and dig deep.
34:33And I had to. That guy had me in trouble. He had me rocked my chin, smoked my liver, and
34:39I stuck in it.
34:40And look at my face. I got some thick ass skin, I'll tell you that. Something's wrong with my face.
34:45It needs to be studied.
34:46It does need to be studied. Listen, Justin, this was an amazing performance.
34:50I don't even want to talk to whether or not you're going to retire, really.
34:53I promised my mom I wouldn't make a decision tonight.
34:56Well, good. Beautiful. Just enjoy this. Enjoy this.
34:58It was one of the greatest fights I've ever called in my life.
35:00One of the greatest fights in the history of the sport. It was an honor to call.
35:03Thank you, sir. Thank you for everything.
35:05Ladies and gentlemen.
35:06This is going to be sick.
35:07Ladies and gentlemen.
35:09But I got to take it.
35:10Take that double bonus. Ladies and gentlemen, please give it up.
35:14For the undisputed lightweight champion of the world, Justin Genji.
35:32Well, however you feel in terms of where that lands on the overall upset scale, that is one of the
35:36biggest singular wins in UFC.
35:37Is one of the most, most important to say that, you know, that, you can get a new label.
35:38You can get a new label.