For all the talking Justin Gaethje did leading up to UFC 274, he was humble in defeat.
Gaethje’s fight with Charles Oliveira didn’t get past the first round as it was full of action, with both men trading haymakers and knocking down each other. Ultimately, Oliveira ended the war after 3:22 when he took Gaethje’s back in a scramble and sunk in a rear-naked choke that forced a tap.
Prior to the fight, Gaethje seemed to question Oliveira’s toughness and said he would make Oliveira “walk through hell” to get the win. Oliveira did just that. And afterward, Gaethje seemed to take notice with congratulations on Twitter.
“Name of the game. Appreciate all the love. Congrats to @CharlesDoBronxs,” Gaethje tweeted. He didn’t speak in the cage after losing or attend the UFC 274 post-fight news conference.
Name of the game. Appreciate all the love. Congrats to @CharlesDoBronxs
— Justin Gaethje 🇺🇸 (@Justin_Gaethje) May 8, 2022
It was Gaethje’s second loss in as many opportunities to win the undisputed lightweight championship. He also was submitted by then-champion Khabib Nurmagomedov in October 2020 at UFC 254. Gaethje earned that title shot after winning interim gold with a TKO of Tony Ferguson at UFC 254.
Oliveira, meanwhile, is on an 11-fight winning streak and hasn’t lost a fight since a December 2017, a TKO against Paul Felder. Oliveira, who won the lightweight title last year, was forced to vacate the belt once the UFC 274 headliner began because he missed weight by a half-pound.
While Oliveira lost the title under questionable circumstances, he seemed to win Gaethje’s respect with his performance in the octagon.
