How good is Justin Gaethje? and how much better can he become?

[MMAart]

Top 6 guy, will almost always lose to elite talent (Ferguson fight was lightning in a bottle)

I see hooker beating him, bigger, stronger, longer reach and a better chin. Justin would fall first.

Hooker got smashed by Barboza. Gaethje would walk all over him.

 

[kungfukenny]

I think Justin, Conor, Ferg, Poirier are all championship level fighters and can win against each other. Khabib was just in a different league and made them look like much inferior fighters than they really are.

agreed, khabib is a once in a generation talent, he’s just on another level to anyone else.

 

[Peli]

Definitely. However I dont see him going unbeaten from now on just because he wont be fighting Khabib.

I agree but I can't see him losing other to the names I mentioned. I'd be shocked if he loses to like an oliveira or something but not shocked if he loses to Poirier or Conor

 

[Herwald]

His footwork last two outings has been tremendous and after this camp he'll only be better. I think he's great.

 

[Franklin U.]

I think trevor and co. evolved him up and a top 155er now.If khabib stays retired, I dont see Gaejthe becoming champ unless Dana and UFC declare a one fight to decide champ and they determine Gaejthe as one of the parties- then, of course, anything can happen.
This is such a unique clusterfuck we have at 155. Khabib Nurmagomedov was at the very top of his game . I guess Dana going make sure bhibster is 100% gone .

 

[StoneWT]

He'll improve greatly. He's basically Ronda, but willing to actually improve himself after a loss. Justin rules the division without Khabib.

 

[FIGHTING TALK]

I would love to see Justin as champion but I seriously doubt it is ever going to happen.
His grappling is massively overrated as is his wrestling.
And his car crash standup mentality means that his career will be relatively short and there will be a time where he can no longer go to the well. We may have already reached that point, it is rarely a gradual slowing down process, only time will tell but I believe his best is behind him at this point.

 

[DoomPatrol]

He's 31. He can improve, but how much? He could start doing BJJ, lol. He's a bit late, but better late than never. He could revamp his rasslin' skills and maybe use them in the offensive for a change. Not sure if any of those things will happen though. So can't say how much he will improve, without knowing what course he is gonna take.

Hasn't he already faced like 10 different guys with pretty decent BJJ skills and beat them though? It's not like he's never fought a black belt before.

 

[KantoTerror]

he could beat anybody in lightweight but he's also beatable.

 

[Iroh]

Hasn't he already faced like 10 different guys with pretty decent BJJ skills and beat them though? It's not like he's never fought a black belt before.

Sure. But did it go to the ground? What if he fights Islam and gets taken down again?

 

[Fergelmince]

Top 6 guy, will almost always lose to elite talent (Ferguson fight was lightning in a bottle)

I see hooker beating him, bigger, stronger, longer reach and a better chin. Justin would fall first.

Not seeing any lightning or bottles

 

[DoomPatrol]

Sure. But did it go to the ground? What if he fights Islam and gets taken down again?

He's a strong wrestler, so he's gone to the ground plenty of times. He's not going to throw some crazy black belt locks on someone, but he seems competent enough to stay safe against the division.

 

[mirko>anyone]

Good fighter. Got slightly overhyped when he got the title shot, but his performance against Tony was exceptional. He’s top 5-6, and probably goes .500 against them in future bouts.

conor/Poirer
tony/chandler
Gaethje/Oliviera
Islam/rda

theoretically you have 8 guys there that you can create an extremely entertaining series of fights.

If Khabib isn’t vacating, then it kinda changes everything. Winner of Poirer/Conor should fight him or just let Tony finally have it.

 

[mirko>anyone]

What? Hooker? lmao. I'm sorry, I just don't see it. I don't think hooker can handle the violence.

C’mon Peli. I think Hooker shouldn’t be laughed off. He just gave Poirer a FOTY contender, and Poirer seems to have a much better tank than Gaethje; if not just an outright better fighter. Five rounds of Hooker and Gaethje will result in both going to the hospital. I’d favor Gaethje but not a lock.

 

[Iroh]

He's a strong wrestler, so he's gone to the ground plenty of times. He's not going to throw some crazy black belt locks on someone, but he seems competent enough to stay safe against the division.

Uhm.. a strong wrestler is not supposed to go to the ground, unless he takes it there and we know Justin doesn't want to take it there. So that doesn't make sense. I don't even know why you are arguing and what it exactly is that you are arguing. I gave you an example of someone, who, if he faced him, would be troublesome if it went to the ground. So saying he seems competent enough to stay safe in the division, while he looked like a fish out of water against Khabib, seems pretty odd.

Ground game is a big part of the MMA game and Justin can definitely improve his, You never know what kind of fighters might enter the UFC.

 

[UWanaPlayDaGame]

Gaethje already improved remarkably relatively late in his career after he joined the ufc.

his win against Ferguson is one of the best single wins in mma in recent times. So he is very good and already improved from his initial skillset and had a great ufc run and got rich. I believe he probably is at his peak now and can beat anyone at LW. Conor would’ve been a bad matchup for him but Conor has probably softened a little bit and could get overwhelmed by the pressure.

 

[CPH]

Hard to say. He looked like his old brawling self vs Khabib. If he fights Dustin the way he did Tony, he will win.

 

[daniel san]

He’s a top fighter, he’ll win some fights and lose some fights. LW right now without Khabib seems like it’s not getting a dominant champ, Gaethje may very well win the belt but I don’t see him going on a long win streak. I don’t expect him to improve much.

 

[fortheo]

Top 3 guy, maybe the best now that khabib is gone

 

[Ackmed]

Stylistically Islam is a bad matchup for Justin. He won't be able to stop Islam's takedowns