And that was his coach Trevor Wittman’s job.
“The game plan was to use our footwork, use the the open foot to to dig outside,” Wittman explained. “Also use left angles when we’re coming into pressure, just because when he starts going back, it was dangerous. Like, very dangerous. If you open up like this, he’s very good at opening the shoulder and finding hooks. So the game plan was to pull him in, not use low kicks in the beginning, [use] high kicks and things like that just to make him respect [us], and try to kick his power hand.”
Getting Topuria tired was a key component of Wittman’s plan. Gaethje has been in a ton of wars and is used to scrapping from opening bell to final bell. Topuria, by comparison, hadn’t left the third round since 2023.
“In most of the fights where [Topuria] gets tired, he starts to go from this point where he’s here [forward leaning, on the attack] to here [straight backed and defensive]. Once he gets here, then it’s like a jabbing war. Then it’s like, alright, once I’ve seen him go to the rear leg, then I was like, get on [him,] Justin.”
“Overcoming the body shot, I think Ilia made a big mistake there,” Wittman said. “I think that was a big mistake on Ilia’s part, going to the ground, because Justin was really hurt. He was hurt. And Justin’s just a durable guy. He’s very smart in situations. He knows when to take breaks. There are times in the fight, like in the third and the fourth round, where I was like, ‘Stop taking breaks here! You’ve got to fight it.’ But easier said than done.”
In the end, Wittman is just happy to see his student achieve his dream of winning the undisputed championship.
“Justin is one of those guys that I think no one deserves it more than him for this [White House] platform,” he said. “And then how many times he’s fought for the title and just put it up on a pedestal, [to] just go out there and fight.”
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