Justin Gaethje Reminded About Signature Weapon to Defeat Ilia Topuria at UFC Freedom 250

A former opponent recommends Justin Gaethje to use his best weapon against 'boxing-heavy' Ilia Topuria at the White House.

Justin Gaethje Reminded About Signature Weapon to Defeat Ilia Topuria at UFC Freedom 250

Ilia Topuria and Justin Gaethje faceoff at the White House [via Yahoo Sports]

In Short
  • Eddie Alvarez advises Justin Gaethje to utilize low kicks against Ilia Topuria to exploit his boxing style.
  • Gaethje's manager plans for a celebratory moment with President Trump if he wins at UFC Freedom 250.
  • Ilia Topuria remains confident in his chances despite acknowledging Gaethje's dangerous fighting style.

Eddie Alvarez, who once beat Justin Gaethje, has reminded the ‘Highlight’ that he has the edge over Ilia Topuria in one key area of the fight. Alvarez is very familiar with Gaethje’s strengths as a fighter, having fought him back in 2017. ‘The Underground King’ handed the two-time interim champion his first MMA loss by knocking him out in the third round.

Drawing from his experience of facing the current interim lightweight champion, Alvarez believes that Gaethje’s low kicks can hinder Ilia Topuria’s boxing-heavy game. The UFC lightweight champion often relies on planting his lead foot, placing a lot of weight on that leg, to generate power for his punches.

However, that leaves him extremely susceptible to leg kicks. This is where someone like Justin Gaethje can capitalize. ‘The Highlight’ is incredible at leg kicks, having found success with them against fighters like Rafael Fiziev. Alvarez told Mike Bohn that this approach will give his former opponent the best chance of winning.

Justin should go back to calf kicks…If Justin goes back to them damaging, smashing leg kicks, he can really turn this fight into something else that people won’t realize…He has to go back to that. He has to go back to that hole. I’d love to see him do that in order to turn this into a real fight.

Eddie Alvarez via Mike Bohn

Before that, Alvarez told Bohn that Ilia Topuria’s brother, Aleksandre Topuria, perfectly broke down the path for ‘El Matador’ to knock out Justin Gaethje. He advised Gaethje against his high guard and laid out what he could do instead.

I’ve seen a clip recently of Ilia’s brother explaining to Ilia how to beat Justin. It was scary how spot on he was. Justin does this hard cover, and he can’t do that. He cannot hard cover. He has to punch with Ilia.

Eddie Alvarez via Mike Bohn

A leg-kick-heavy approach has been quite effective against boxing-heavy fighters in the UFC. Alex Pereira forced Magomed Ankalaev to switch to southpaw and eventually knocked him out in the first round with his inside leg kicks to Ankalaev’s lead foot. Considering Ilia Topuria fights out of an orthodox stance, Gaethje won’t even have to go shin-to-shin to get off his kicks like Pereira did at UFC 320.

Eddie Alvarez has laid out quite a solid game plan for Justin Gaethje to follow at UFC Freedom 250. That said, with only a month left for the card, it figures that Trevor Wittman and Gaethje have come up with a plan of their own to topple Ilia Topuria. After all, that is the key to their post-fight plans per Gaethje’s manager.

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Justin Gaethje’s manager reveals their celebration plans for UFC Freedom 250

Ilia Topuria is supremely confident about his chances of beating Justin Gaethje at UFC Freedom 250. He is even planning to celebrate with a party on the night before his fight against the ‘Highlight,’ despite once acknowledging how dangerous his upcoming opponent can be. Unlike ‘El Matador’, Justin Gaethje and his manager, Ali Abdelaziz, plan to celebrate their potential win in the cage itself.

Justin Gaethje, Ali Abdelaziz
Justin Gaethje with Ali Abdelaziz [via MMA Rocks]

They want to create an iconic moment at the White House. Abdelaziz suggested to TMZ that they plan to ask the President to wrap the belt around Justin Gaethje if he wins against Ilia Topuria.

You better believe it. If Justin Gaethje wins, he will ask President Trump to put the belt on him. Everybody wants Justin Gaethje to win — the president, the UFC, everybody. This is America’s birthday … and Justin Gaethje represents America.

Ali Abdelaziz via TMZ

Ali Abdelaziz still gave a lot of credit to the undefeated lightweight champion, acknowledging him as a top pound-for-pound fighter. Even so, Abdelaziz had full confidence in Gaethje’s ability to make their abovementioned plan come to fruition.

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