“I Never Used to Pick My Shots”- Justin Gaethje Deciphers the Changes He Made to Improve His Game

And here we have it! We are less than a week away from the much-awaited UFC 249 event, Tony Ferguson vs. Justin Gaethje. The sheer uncertainty of the event, culminating in an actual materialization, has made UFC 2499 all the more exciting. Indeed, patience is bitter, but the fruit is sweet!

All eyes are fixed on the main event. Two of the deadliest Lightweights of the generation, Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje, will face off in an interim title bout. The winner will fight “The Eagle” Khabib Nurmagomedov for the UFC Lightweight Championship.

Gaethje stepped in at the last moment as a replacement for Khabib. Even though he does not accept short-notice fights, he did not want to let go of a title opportunity. And, much to his relief, Dana White had to postpone the event from 18 April to 9 May, providing him more time to train.

“The Highlight” is well aware of the challenge that Ferguson poses. “El Cucuy” is one of the most dangerous fighters on the planet, and the amount of confidence he has shown to prepare for the bout is something that no one has ever seen.

Thus, Gaethje is training very hard to make sure he is the best version of himself on May 9th. This will undoubtedly be his toughest fight yet.

What Justin Gaethje changed after his two losses in UFC

Here’s how we know Justin Gaethje will be extra careful going into his fight with Tony. He lost twice in his time at UFC, against Eddie Alvarez and Dustin Poirier.

Until those losses, Gaethje had a blotless career. Thus, he did not feel like changing anything about the way he fought, because whatever he did was working. However, that attitude, he said, did not get him far. In an interview with BT Sport, he said,

“I was enjoying myself so much. But, really, after those two fights, I really made the same mistake in those fights. I became too relaxed. I started having too much fun.”

However, Justin stated that after those fights, he brought in some changes. “You can’t get hit, if you don’t get hit. If you conserve your energy [and] if you pick your shots [you win]. I never used to pick my shots. I was really able to start picking my shots.”

How is Gaethje preparing for his bout with Tony Ferguson?

As Justin has stated before, he places complete trust in whatever his coach decides for him. However, a fight with Tony requires an immense amount of conditioning, and of course, speed. This requires almost twice the hard work for any fighter to prepare for El Cucuy.

Talking about how he is coping with it, Justin said, “My work ethic comes through my genetics. Three generations working in copper mines in Arizona. Both sides of my family. Hard work was instilled in me. I give max effort. And outside of that, I don’t care what happens.”

Do you think Justin will be able to outmatch Tony Ferguson at UFC 249?