Justin Gaethje's pre-fight taunts of Charles Oliveira came back to bite him after the American tapped out in the first round of their lightweight title showdown.
Gaethje had claimed Oliveira had shown himself to be a "quitter" earlier in his career and claimed that he had shown himself to be a "coward". But despite making a fast start to the main event fight at UFC 274, Gaethje was quickly taken to the canvas and submitted as Oliveira locked in a rear-naked choke.
Oliveira could not be crowned champion after he was stripped of his belt for weighing in half a pound over the 155lb limit on Friday. He will instead face another leading contender for the vacant strap later this year with Islam Makhachev and Michael Chandler the leading candidates.
Gaethje, however, faces a long road back to the top after losing his second title tilt following his submission defeat by Khabib Nurmagomedov in 2020. And his pre-fight words will be remembered for all the wrong reasons as he took aim at Oliveira.
“They’re definitely not the same athlete," Gaethje said when asked to compare OIiveira to Nurmagomedov. "And Charles certainly is not more dangerous than Khabib. His ability to take damage is not the same, proven through the times we’ve seen him fight. All my criticism of Charles is from a kid that we were talking about, that we all watched grow, and now we’re talking about a man with confidence. It’s a different person, but ultimately the same Charles is still there.
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"The same Charles that fought Cub Swanson. The same Charles that fought Donald Cerrone. The same Charles that fought [Anthony] Pettis. Choices were made in that by him and the choice to quit was made, and I’m going to give him that choice on Saturday night, I guarantee that. I think that’s true, however, once a coward always a coward."
Gaethje did not face the media after his second defeat in three fights but later tweeted: "Name of the game. Appreciate all the love. Congratulations to Charles Oliveira."
