Justin Gaethje will face Khabib Nurmagomedov on October 24 for the lightweight title. The current interim champion won his belt in May of this year after a dominant win over Ferguson. However, in Khabib, Justin faces a puzzle no one has been able to solve thus far.
The Russian champion is 28-0-0 and has completely dominated over all his opponents. His grappling and wrestling skills are probably the best the UFC has ever seen. None of the previous opponents could stop his takedowns, or, for that matter, get back up once he had them pinned to the floor.
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In Justin Gaethje, however, Khabib faces someone who has been wrestling all his life, and possibly has the wrestling pedigree to fare well against him.
Justin Gaethje reveals his training partners ahead of UFC 254
Justin might not bring in people who can exactly replicate Khabib. Nonetheless, the challenger has left no stone unturned and made sure to get in extra help for his upcoming fight.
Read: Watch: Justin Gaethje’s intense training ahead of UFC 254
In a recent interview with Brett Okamoto of ESPN, Justin was asked how he was preparing for Khabib and who he brought in to help him with Khabib. Gaethje replied, saying, “Yeah, you know, I didn’t bring anyone out specifically for the fight. I got one guy out, Rafael Garcia. He fights for Combate. He is 12-0. He’s definitely a good guy to have in.
“Carrington Banks, Austin Hubbert. Carrington Banks has definitely been one of my main training partners. He’s really good at wrestling in MMA, which is different from actually wrestling.
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Gaethje went on to add, “Tywan Claxton is back in here. I would say he’s smaller, not as strong as Khabib would ever be, but he’s incredibly fast and a great wrestler. A lot of it is just running my legs gotta be ready for 25 mins of wrestling. I got my coach Ben Cherrington coming in. I got Ryan Deakin, one of the best wrestlers in the country.”
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‘The Highlight’ further added that on his wrestling days he would wrestle for an hour straight. He was not allowed any breaks and had to train with three wrestlers who would come in one after the other.
Looks like Gaethje is well-prepared for his bout against Khabib. But will ‘The Eagle’ have an ace up his sleeve that no one will see coming?