Will MMA fans see return of 'WSOF Gaethje' in UFC 313 co-main event?

Every so often in the insane sport of mixed martial arts, a legendary character or “mythical fighter” will emerge and capture the hearts and minds of hardcore fight fans.

“Sea-level Cain Velasquez,” “TRT Vitor Belfort” and “Motivated B.J. Penn” have been three of the more commonly used colloquialisms over the years and this weekend at UFC 313 we may see the return of another: “WSOF Justin Gaethje.”

Velasquez, a former heavyweight champion known for an unusually high output and basically an unlimited gas tank, was on his way to being considered the division’s greatest talent before he lost his title in Mexico City in a bout during which his legendary cardio failed him at elevation.

Belfort was the poster boy for the era when it was legal and somewhat commonplace for aging fighters to receive a therapeutic use exemption for testosterone replacement therapy (TRT). Belfort had a notorious run of success in 2013 that saw him rack up consecutive head-kick knockout wins over Michael Bisping, Luke Rockhold and Dan Henderson before TRT exceptions were banned in 2014 after which Belfort went on to lose four of his next six fights all by knockout before retiring from MMA.

Penn, meanwhile, was blessed with a natural fighting prowess rarely seen and, at times, looked like the top pound-for-pound fighter in MMA. However, Penn didn’t always take his training and diet seriously and a virtuoso performance would occasionally be replaced by a dud outing that left fans scratching their heads and questioning the Hawaiian star’s motivation.

One “mythical fighter” from recent years is the persona Gaethje developed during his time in the World Series of Fighting organization in the early portion of his career. Gaethje has teased the return of that version of himself this weekend.

Gaethje fought 10 times in WSOF, which later changed its brand to Professional Fighters League or PFL MMA. He ended up going 10-0, winning the promotion’s inaugural lightweight title and defending it five times before leaving to begin his UFC career.

Along the way, Gaethje earned the nickname “The Highlight” because of his all-action, all-offence fighting style and his willingness to eat his opponent’s best shots to land one of his own. Nine of his 10 WSOF wins were either by knockout or technical knockout and any that lasted longer than a couple minutes were guaranteed to be fireworks from the opening bell.

His series of scraps with Luis Palomino were particularly memorable.

Frequent haymakers, vicious uppercuts, knees and chopping leg kicks from the clinch, plus an iron chin and high-level wrestling to help with his takedown defence made Gaethje one of the most popular and touted fighters outside the UFC during the mid-2010s.

Capping off his wins by doing a backflip off the top of the cage became his signature celebration.

Gaethje made his UFC debut in 2017 with a Fight of the Year performance and a knockout win over Michael Johnson that served as a perfect introduction to what Gaethje could bring to the UFC roster.

Gaethje’s win over Johnson improved his record to 18-0 at the time but he was finished by Eddie Alvarez and Dustin Poirier five months apart in December 2017 and April 2018.

Consecutive first-round knockout wins over James Vick, Edson Barboza and Donald Cerrone got Gaethje back near the top of the division, and in 2020, he snapped Tony Ferguson’s infamous 12-fight winning streak to earn an interim UFC lightweight title.

Quantifiably the most guaranteed-action fighter in the UFC, Gaethje has earned 13 total performance bonuses across his 13 UFC appearances. It wasn’t until the 2020s that Gaethje really began to refine his skill set and implement a slightly more reserved and tactical approach to his matchups.

Gaethje was submitted by Khabib Nurmagomedov in their UFC 254 title unification bout, rebounded with a three-round unanimous decision win over Michael Chandler in his lone 2021 fight and was submitted by Charles Oliveira in his only 2022 appearance.

Gaethje’s 2023 campaign began with a memorable three-round majority decision Fight of the Night win over Rafael Fiziev – the man he will face Saturday in Las Vegas in a rematch – and saw him earn the BMF Title with a head-kick KO of Dustin Poirier that avenged a previous loss.

His most recent outing saw him go out on his shield, losing in the literal last second of his BMF Title match with Max Holloway at UFC 300 roughly 11 months ago.

Gaethje has not fought since being faceplanted but don’t expect a more conservative game plan from the fan favourite when he enters the Octagon on Saturday.

In fact, the 155-pound brawler has been saying all week that fans can expect him to fight with a more aggressive game plan than what he has been using lately. 

“I found success in the Chandler fight and the Fiziev fight kind of by being more passive than I ever used to be,” Gaethje told TNT Sports. “I used to be a very aggressive, and a very forward fighter, and in my mind, I concentrated on not getting hit, not taking damage. At the end of the fight, their face was still jacked up and I was getting the win and so I think I bought into that style a bit too much, and especially against a guy like Max Holloway who’s so fast, who cover range so well, and it really bit me in the ass that night. …

“If you watched me in World Series of Fighting, I think I have to tap into that guy a little bit more.”

Gaethje earned an entertaining win over Fiziev at UFC 286 two years ago in London, England in a 15-minute tilt that saw both fighters show off their power by landing big punches and massive kicks to the body.

Fiziev’s lone appearance since facing Gaethje was a brutal outing in September 2023 that saw him blow out his knee midway through a bout with Mateusz Gamrot.

Prior to his current two-fight skid, Fiziev was enjoying a six-fight winning streak. Including the Fight of the Night bonus he earned from his first bout with Gaethje, Fiziev has earned additional Fight of the Night awards for decision wins over Bobby Green and Marc Diakiese plus performance of the night bonuses for knockout wins over Renato Moicano, Brad Riddell and Rafael dos Anjos.

The 32-year-old Muay Thai-style striker has also developed a reputation for being willing to engage in an aggressive striking match with anyone in the division.

All that is to say the UFC 313 co-main event is shaping up to be quite the spectacle. 

GREEN ALSO READY TO THROW DOWN

Fellow veteran lightweight Bobby “King” Green has also alluded to reverting back to a rawer fighting style he calls his “hood” fighting style when he faces the rising Mauricio Ruffy on the UFC 313 main card.

“I bring the street to you, like, I’m fighting you like we’re going to fight in the streets,” Green told Sportsnet earlier this week when speaking about his fighting style.

The 38-year-old veteran of 50 pro bouts is coming off a one-sided first-round submission loss to Paddy Pimblett at UFC 304 last July in England that he has described as humbling and difficult to get over. 

“I felt like I lost a Super Bowl,” Green said Wednesday at UFC 313 media day in Las Vegas.

Green is a significant underdog against Ruffy, a touted 28-year-old from Brazil whose fighting style has been compared to Conor McGregor’s.