UFC lightweight Justin Gaethje is now coming off of a two fight losing streak. Having abandoned his wrestling for much of his last two bouts, the former NCAA Division I competitor now says that he plans on adding wrestling back into his game plan.
Justin Gaethje most recently went toe-to-toe with Dustin Poirier, ultimately suffering a TKO loss to the fighter. First, however, the two mixed martial artists put on an octagon war for the arena crowd.
While Gaethje claims he initially entered the fight with plans to take Poirier down, the fighter never attempted a takedown during the match. Speaking on The MMA Hour, Gaethje revealed that he plans on bringing his wrestling back for his next octagon performance.
“I’ve been wrestling my whole life. I should’ve and could’ve took him down a couple of times, especially when I had him rocked just to steal a round or two. For some reason, my mind will not let me do it.”
“I think I sold myself so hard on the fact that this is not wrestling. I don’t know, I honestly don’t know the answer to that question.”
“It gets you tired. If I’m going to get tired, I’d rather it be from fighting and not from wrestling. That’s the reason why I never wanted to wrestle. But I did so much cardio this camp that it would not have been a problem for me to turn it into a wrestling match, but I just can’t do it, it would not be fun for me.”
“It definitely would be a good idea. I have to get people guessing if I’m going to take them down or not. They know what I’m coming with right now. Everyone knows I’m going to come in there and I’m going to stop your takedowns. So, yeah, it would benefit me to keep them guessing. I need to work it into my game plan.
“No, I don’t wish that I fought like that,” Gaethje added. “I’m glad that I fight like I do because I love what I do, but it would be fun to add that into the game plan sometime.”
