Nurmagomedov vs Gaethje

Who won Nurmagomedov vs Gaethje?

Khabib Nurmagomedov beat Justin Gaethje by submission in the 2nd round, during the main event of UFC 254, on Saturday 24th October 2020 at UFC Fight Island in Abu Dhabi.

The fight was scheduled to take place over 5 rounds in the Lightweight division, which meant the weight limit was 155 pounds (11.1 stone or 70.3 KG).

This contest was for the UFC lightweight championship.

Nurmagomedov vs Gaethje stats

Khabib Nurmagomedov stepped into the ring with an undefeated record of 28 wins, zero loses and 0 draws, 8 of those wins coming by the way of knock out and 10 by submission.

Justin Gaethje made his way to the ring with a record of 22 wins, 2 loses and 0 draws, with 19 of those wins by knock out and 1 by submission.

The stats suggested Gaethje had a massive power advantage over Nurmagomedov, boosting at 86% knock out percentage over Nurmagomedov's 29%.

Khabib Nurmagomedov was the same age as Justin Gaethje, at 32 years old.

Gaethje had a height advantage of 1 inch over Nurmagomedov. Despite this, both fighters had equal reach.

Nurmagomedov was the more experienced professional fighter, having had 4 more fights, and made his debut in 2008, 2 years and 11 months earlier than Gaethje, whose first professional fight was in 2011. He had fought 8 more professional rounds, 60 to Gaethje's 52.

Nurmagomedov vs Gaethje form

Justin Gaethje had stopped 3 of his last 5 opponents.

In his last fight before this contest, he had defeated Donald Cerrone at UFC on ESPN+ 16 on 14th September 2019 by knockout in the 1st round at Rogers Arena, Vancouver, Canada.

Previous to that, he had defeated Edson Barboza at UFC on ESPN 2 on 30th March 2019 by knockout in the 1st round at Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, United States.

Going into that contest, he had beat James Vick at UFC Fight Night 135 on 25th August 2018 by knockout in the 1st round at Pinnacle Bank Arena, Lincoln.

Before that, he had been beaten by Dustin Poirier at UFC on FOX 29 on 14th April 2018 by knockout in the 4th round at Gila River Arena, Glendale.

He had lost to Eddie Alvarez at UFC 218 on 2nd December 2017 by knockout in the 3rd round at Little Caesars Arena, Detroit.

Activity check

Gaethje's last 5 fights had come over a period of 3 years, 9 months and 15 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 9 months and 4 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 10 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 2 rounds on average.