An absolutely tremendous sports night in Jacksonville culminated in victory for Justin Gaethje when he took out the favored Tony Ferguson for the lightweight interim title.
A winner of 12 matches in a row, Ferguson kept on taking left hooks from Gaethje throughout the fight. This led to the former champ’s right eye closing shut and multiple cuts on his face.
It was absolutely amazing to see Ferguson continue to take blows while remaining upright. But in the end, Gaethje won when the ref stopped the fight with Ferguson bleeding in the final round.
— UFC (@ufc) May 10, 2020
How is Ferguson still standing after this massive right from @Justin_Gaethje?! #UFC249 pic.twitter.com/Ow1Qdb3cNQ
Already excited about live sports returning for the first time in two months, those on social media had equally awesome reactions to Gaethje’s five-round knockout win.
Justin Gaethje puts on the best performance of his career to capture UFC gold #UFC249 pic.twitter.com/pq9vq7rhUr
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) May 10, 2020
Quite possibly the BEST version of @Justin_Gaethje we've ever seen. #UFC249 pic.twitter.com/KIFLwMlTVG
— UFC (@ufc) May 10, 2020
Gaethje refuses to take the interim title. “I’ll wait for the real one,” he tells Rogan.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) May 10, 2020
Holy hell what a performance @Justin_Gaethje. I’ll always be a Tony guy. That was incredible. Jaw-dropping.
— Mike Ryan (Ruiz) (@MichaelRyanRuiz) May 10, 2020
That’s an incredible performance by Justin Gaethje. No doubt. Give him Khabib. He destroyed Ferguson.
— Myron Medcalf (@MedcalfByESPN) May 10, 2020
Incredible performance by Justin Gaethje. 5th round TKO vs. Tony Ferguson.
— Guilherme Cruz (@guicruzzz) May 10, 2020
Is he the one to beat Khabib Nurmagomedov?
(Khabib-Ferguson will never happen.)
There’s a reason seemingly nobody has wanted to fight Justin Gaethje for a while now. That dude is a beast
— Sam Vecenie (@Sam_Vecenie) May 10, 2020
That's it. Justin Gaethje via TKO in the fifth round. Tony Ferguson upset, shoves him away when Gaethje tries to hug him. Heartbreak for Ferguson in Jacksonville. Gaethje sky rockets off this. Wow. Bring on Khabib.
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) May 10, 2020
Told y’all man! @Justin_Gaethje the real deal. Super impressed with his boxing skills. & yo Tonys chin literally doesn’t make sense! Incredible fight. Needed this shit man. W
— nickmercs (@NICKMERCS) May 10, 2020
Gaethje is clearly winning this fight and pulling off a huge upset – SO FAR. Ferguson did catch him with the one uppercut end of R2. But Ferguson is more of an entertainer and has no crowd to fuel him. Too quiet.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) May 10, 2020
Two realities.
— Luke Thomas (@lthomasnews) May 10, 2020
1. There's plenty of fight left and the deep waters are places where Tony has done well.
2. No one has beaten up Tony Ferguson like this. Not ever. Not even close. Gaethje is demolishing him.
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