Justin Gaethje hints at Ilia Topuria strategy when explaining how he stole Paddy Pimblett’s momentum

Justin Gaethje knows that he can’t let Ilia Topuria settle into his groove on June 14.

Topuria was critical of Gaethje’s fight with Paddy Pimblett due to the technique that both men displayed across the 25-minute duration.

Gaethje believes he fought exactly the way he needed to in order to win the interim lightweight title when responding to people questioning his performance.

‘The Highlight’ knew that he needed to commit to pushing his opponent back because of the style matchup, and recently suggested that he could implement a similar approach next month.

Justin Gaethje suggests he’ll try to steal Ilia Topuria’s momentum by testing him early

While Justin Gaethje has spoken about switching up his approach for fights against the likes of Rafael Fiziev, it’s his aggressive, relentless style that many fans associate with him.

After successfully implementing the latter earlier this year, Gaethje said he was surprised by the success he had against Paddy Pimblett.

‘The Highlight’ recently explained how putting Pimblett on the back foot early on in the fight and hurting him was key to the victory, stating that this will be the case once again in his next outing.

“These guys have so much momentum. Paddy had so much momentum and it’s really something similar to this fight that I’m going to have to steal early,” he told Grind City Media. “I was able to do that with a big body shot and you know, drop him in the first round and then now he’s battling momentum and that’s going to be a big factor in this fight as well.”