American Justin Gaethje scored a surprise technical knockout victory over Tony Ferguson to win the interim lightweight title at Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) 249 at a fan-free Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida on Saturday (Sunday morning SA time).
Ferguson arrived with a 12-win streak but was no match for Gaethje as referee Herb Dean stepped in to end the fight late in the fifth round.
Gaethje flipped over the top of the cage and back in following the biggest victory of his career.
“I want the real one,” he said as he threw down the interim belt. “There’s no other fight I want right now.”
The 31-year-old replaced lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov in a bout originally scheduled for 18 April, and now “The Highlight” will get his crack at “The Eagle”.
?? The Highlight hits GOLD.@Justin_Gaethje #UFC249 pic.twitter.com/mjsFT94tft
— UFC (@ufc) May 10, 2020
— UFC (@ufc) May 10, 2020
All results:
Main Card
Justin Gaethje (4)def. Tony Ferguson (1) – interim lightweight title – via fifth round TKO
Henry Cejudo (C) def. Dominick Cruz – bantamweight title – via second round TKO
Francis Ngannou (2) def. Jairzinho Rozenstruik (6) – via first round KO
Calvin Kattar (9) def. Jeremy Stephens (7) – via second round TKO
Greg Hardy def. Yorgan De Castro – via unanimous decision (30-27 x 3)
Prelims
Anthony Pettis (15) def. Donald Cerrone (6) – via unanimous decision (29-28 x 3)
Aleksei Oleinik (12) def. Fabricio Werdum – via split decision (29-28 x 2, 28-29)
Carla Esparza (7) def. Michelle Waterson (8) – via split decision (30-27, 29-28, 27-30)
Vicente Luque (13) def. Niko Price – via third round TKO (doctor’s stoppage)
Early prelims
Bryce Mitchell def. Charles Rosa – via unanimous decision (30-25 x 2, 30-24)
Ryan Spann def. Sam Alvey – via split decision (29-28 x 2, 28-29)
