How Does Justin Gaethje Stack Up With The UFC's Top 15?

[Arkridge]

Justin Gaethje is an undefeated fighter, 14-0 with 12 finishes and is WSOF's 4x defending champion. He has only one fight left on his WSOF contract and has made it not secret that he wants to negotiate with the UFC very soon. Justin Gaethje is a collegiate wrestler but prefers to stand and bang with opponents and use his power and heavy leg kicks to drag opponents into heavy water, similar to a LW version of Matt Brown. For those who have seen Justin Gaethje's fights, how do you think he ranks up against the UFC's top 15? Does he become a contender, or is he just another body for the UFC's deep as fuck LW division?

 

[TheBrownRanger]

Personally, I think he could beat Masvidal, Al, Ferguson, and Miller. 50/50 with Thomson, Jury, and Barboza. Doesn't beat Gil, Benson, Cerrone, Khabib, Pettis or RDA

Kinda iffy on Alvarez and MJ

 

[Jin Akutsu]

I would put him around 10-15 area skill wise.

 

[chunglii]

I think he (and their BW champ Marlon Moraes) could definitely be competitive with the top 15s in the UFC.

 

[Agnawedbone]

He looked really sloppy in the fight against Guillard, and was very tired at the end of the third.

Before that fight I would have said he has a good chance mixing in somewhere in the top ten. Now, well, he'd definitely make the top fifteen, but anything more than that is too unpredictable.

If he does join the UFC he's going to need to step up his game.

 

[funksoulbrother]

pettis lose
eagle lose
cowboy win
gil lose
benson lose
Michael win
Edson win
jury win
Thomson win
eddie win
bobby win
tony lose
miller lose
al win
Jorge win

 

[Arkridge]

He looked really sloppy in the fight against Guillard, and was very tired at the end of the third.

Before that fight I would have said he has a good chance mixing in somewhere in the top ten. Now, well, he'd definitely make the top fifteen, but anything more than that is too unpredictable.

If he does join the UFC he's going to need to step up his game.

He's definitely going to need to polish up his game if he ever wants to contend for a title. He has an excellent chin but it won't last forever. He has amazing wrestling and has won two fights by slam. I really wish he'd use it to his advantage more, but he'd rather stand and trade. I will give him this, even though he gets wild, he has amazing leg kicks.

I'd love to see Gaethje vs. Cowboy.

 

[JKS]

Very hard to say as we have only seen him vs Guilard in a close fight and Melvin by no means was a top contender at LW. I see him having success vs the the 11-15 guys.....top 10? Who knows

 

[EndlessCritic]

he's a top 10 talent. great wrestler, heavy hands, and he possibly has the hardest leg kicks in all of mma. he has hurt every single guy he's fought at wsof with those kicks.

 

[Chitaouri]

you'd be surprised

 

[PurpleDrank]

top 10 maybe top5, also how the fuck is Jury top 10

 

[BenjaminDuffy]

After the Palomino fight, I'm going to say "not that well."

I think he's going to be like the poor man's Eddie Alvarez - offensively gifted, but so hittable that he gets drawn into firefights with lesser fighters than himself.

 

[Estudante]

he possibly has the hardest leg kicks in all of mma. he has hurt every single guy he's fought at wsof with those kicks.

lol, if edson barboza was in wsof you would be saying the same thing

 

[ironfist05]

overcommits to a lot of his strikes, but it gets him a lot of power. Could work on his conditioning as well. Overall, a work in progress but a very promising fighter who could probably match anybody in the LW division with some work.

 

[arniemycat**]

He gets hit way too much vs average opposition that his chin (currently top notch) will soon fail.

If he stops being so reckless and sorts out his defence he has a a very high ceiling. If he continues to fight like he currently does, he will be exciting but never make it to the top.

He was close to losing vs Palomonio.

 

[The_Renaissance]

He stacks up well but, like all non-UFC beasts, he'll have his toughest fights to date if/when he joins the UFC. Someone like Palomino wouldn't be top 20 in the UFC, so Gaethje will have to really fight to his potential to break top 10 - not saying he can't do it, though.

 

[Actualized174]

He would be competitive in the top 15 but would probably get destroyed by the top ten. Gaethje is talented but at the same time he has so many holes in gis game that all of the ufc top 10 would definitely exploit badly.

His cardio is kinda bad...watch the guillard and newell fight. And he is waaaaaaaayyy too careless...meaning that a lightweight with good striking accuracy or power would KO him.

I like him though. Kid is exciting...sometimes even too much for his own good.

 

[Gluhov]

he's a top 10 talent. great wrestler, heavy hands, and he possibly has the hardest leg kicks in all of mma. he has hurt every single guy he's fought at wsof with those kicks.

The top lw's dong get stopped with leg kicks. They're more to set up bigger shots when you start fighting the elites.

 

[spikemma]

he loses guaranteed to seven of them the majority out of ten times

 

[RonnyB]

pettis lose - AGREE
eagle lose - AGREE
cowboy win - LOL
gil lose - AGREE
benson lose - AGREE
Michael win - DISAGREE
Edson win - AGREE
jury win - AGREE
Thomson win - DISAGREE
eddie win - LOL
bobby win - AGREE
tony lose - 50/50
miller lose - DISAGREE
al win - AGREE
Jorge win - 50/50

I'm also a huge fan of JG but you're on meth... He loses to Miller but beats Eddie, Thomson, MJ and Cowboy??