A huge change has been made to the card at UFC 268. Michael Chandler vs Justin Gaethje, which was supposed to take place before the title fight between Rose Namajunas and Zhang Weili, has now been shifted. The fight will now open the main card at UFC 268.
This has been done to accommodate coach Trevor Wittman’s busy schedule.
Starting off the #UFC268 PPV with a lightweight showdown 💥
(via @marc_raimondi) pic.twitter.com/j6neoZ5HaN
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) November 4, 2021
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Wittman is the coach to Justin Gaethje, Kamaru Usman, and Rose Namajunas. All three fighters are competing at UFC 268 and were supposed to fight back-to-back. Given two of his fighters are involved in rematches for the title, the UFC has decided to give Wittman a break instead of having him corner for three consecutive fights.
A clean sweep on the card for Trevor Wittman at UFC 268?
Trevor Wittman is one of the best minds in the sport. He trains three of the very best fighters in the UFC at the moment and prefers to keep his stable of fighters small so he can offer individual attention to each of his athletes.
At UFC 268, two of his fighters will be involved in rematches of epic proportions, both for the title. While Wittman was in Namajunas’ corner for her brilliant stoppage win over Zhang the first time around, he was not associated with Usman when he stopped Colby Covington in round five at UFC 245.
There is no doubt that having teammates preparing for a fight on the same card would have helped in training camp. A champion’s work ethic would definitely have rubbed off on the others surrounding them.
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However, on the flip side, if Gaethje opens the card and succumbs to a loss against Chandler, it might affect ‘Thug Rose’ and ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ psychologically. It will be interesting to see if Wittman can once again pull off a clean sweep as he did at UFC 261, where both his fighters secured jaw-dropping knockout wins.
What do you make of the fight between Michael Chandler and Justin Gaethje? Who do you think takes the win? Let us know in the comments below!