With his undisputed UFC lightweight championship fight against Ilia Topuria at UFC Freedom 250 on the White House lawn getting closer, interim champion Justin Gaethje spoke to Fox Sports Australia and had some choice words for Topuria, calling him harsh names and bringing up his high-profile divorce from earlier this year.
Topuria’s Rose for Gaethje
Gaethje’s comments come in response to Ilia Topuria’s actions in the latest UFC Freedom 250 promotional video, in which “El Matador” laid down a white rose in front of a picture of Gaethje, signaling Gaethje as his next unfortunate victim in the Octagon (via UFC on YouTube):
Topuria doubled down on social media, sharing more images on Instagram of behind-the-scenes footage of the promo shoot.
The images depict him placing the white rose in front of Gaethje’s picture as well as framed pictures of Topuria’s past opponents he has knocked out: Alexander Volkanovski, Max Holloway, and Charles Oliveira.
Gaethje’s Response
“The Highlight” was not impressed by Topuria’s creative showmanship and did not hold back in his response.
"All that guy is is a gimmick. He calls himself the king. He thinks he's a God. What an annoying little ba—,” Gaethje remarked. “I couldn't imagine being in a room with him for 30 minutes listening to him talk about himself.”
Wittman also revealed that Gaethje’s workout, for that day, contained multiple circuit training stations that involved “push, pull, endurance, explosion, fast-twitch, and a little bit of active rest.”
“Then, when he comes out, he’s dealing with these hard workouts with the feeling of heatstroke. [We’re] just training his body to kind of deal with it and deal with the climate that we’re going to be in... he just plowed through it today and Justin Gaethje’s in shape.”
Gaethje told the same thing to Fox Sports Australia.
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
“A lot of my workouts have been designed around fighting outside,” he said in his interview. “Today, for example, I had 10 minutes of jump rope, then did 15 minutes of sauna— got my body heat real high before I went and did my seven rounds of hard work. That way, I’m starting workouts with a high body temperature.”
“We’re expecting humidity, but who knows? There is a cold front coming next week, but that could also bring rain, so maybe the humidity [come fight night] is higher. I have no idea what to expect.”
“No matter what the variables are in there, [Topuria will] have to face the same things that I do.”
