Justin Gaethje wins UFC debut in thrilling bout with Michael Johnson

Reporting from Las Vegas —  For years, Justin Gaethje built a reputation as one of the most exciting fighters in MMA. In the WSOF promotion, he built an undefeated record through a series of electric performances and thrilling contests. Lingering over Gaethje was always the question how he would perform against the best competition in the world. He signed with the UFC sporting a 17-0 record with 14 knockouts and was put in a main event Friday night in his first UFC bout. It was time for Gaethje to prove what he could do.

Pitted against longtime lightweight contender Michael Johnson, Gaethje lived up to his nickname of “The Highlight.” For two rounds, Gaethje and Johnson went to war in one of the best fights of this or any other year. Gaethje and Johnson exchanged words leading up to the fight and the proud competitors swung throughout looking to finish with practically every blow. Both were rocked at different points, with Gaethje appearing in deep trouble in both the first and second rounds.

While Gaethje took tremendous damage at different points in the fight, Johnson got the worst of it. In the second round, Gaethje hurt Johnson with a barrage of punches that sent Johnson to the canvas. Gaethje encouraged Johnson to stand back up and then went after him with brutal uppercuts. The courageous Johnson finally went down after a knee and the fight was mercifully stopped. As thunderous chants for Gaethje rang out from the audience, Gaethje did a backflip off the cage to celebrate. It was one of the most impressive debuts in the history of the UFC and announced the presence of an exciting new fighter in one of the best divisions in the sport.

In the other top fight of the evening, Jesse Taylor secured “redemption” and won the 25th season of the Ultimate Fighter. The show was built around bringing back fighters from previous seasons and giving them another opportunity to make it in the UFC. The theme of redemption applied to no other fighter more than Taylor, who was supposed to compete in the finals of the seventh season of the Ultimate Fighter but was removed from the fight for a drunken rampage through a casino.

Nine years later, Taylor received a second chance and he capitalized on it. Taylor advanced to the finals of the tournament with wins over Mehdi Baghdad, Hayder Hassan and James Krause. He then submitted Dhiego Lima in the finals Friday night to win. Even in the fight against Lima, Taylor worked through adversity. Lima dropped him with a left hook in the second round and went for a submission but Taylor quickly recovered and locked in a rear naked choke of his own for the tap. With the victory, Taylor won $290,000 and was able to rise back up nine years after what appeared to be a legacy defining mistake.

In other action:

-- Drakkar Klose (8-0-1) scored an upset win and ended the undefeated record of Marc Diakiese (12-1). Diakiese came into the fight with a lot of hype but the confident Klose challenged Diakiese throughout and earned a split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28). Twice, Klose kicked Diakiese’s leg out from under him. In an uncomfortable scene, Klose continued to taunt and trash talk Diakiese after the fight, drawing boos from the crowd.

-- Jared Cannonier (10-2) showcased his trademark intensity in the process of picking up a third round TKO over UFC newcomer Nick Roehrick (7-1). Roehrick was game and hung in the fight but Cannonier landed heavy punches throughout and eventually put Roehrick away late. Cannonier is an entertaining fighter to watch with dangerous striking ability, but questions still remain about his takedown defense.

-- In a clash of styles, Brad Tavares’ more traditional approach got the best of the more unique stylings of Elias Theodorou. The fight was even early rounds but Tavares took over in the third. That was the difference in a 29-28, 29-28, 29-28 unanimous decision that improved Tavares to 15-4 and dropped Theodorou to 13-2. Tavares has fought in the UFC since 2010 but has mostly flown under the radar. He’s still looking for a marquee win that will elevate him into consistent fights against top contenders.

-- Jordan Johnson (8-0) secured a unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) over a competitive Marcel Fortuna (9-2). Johnson has a background in wrestling and Fortuna a background in jiu jitsu but the fight was mostly contested on the feet.

-- Angela Hill (7-3) avoided a second straight loss with a unanimous decision win (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) over Ashley Yoder (5-3). Hill had much more power in her strikes as they landed throughout the bout.

-- James Krause’s boxing proved too much for crowd favorite Tom Gallicchio over the course of their three-round fight. Krause was much sharper in the standup, consistently landing big shots and evading Gallicchio’s attempts at offense. The unanimous decision victory (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) improved Krause to 24-7 while Gallicchio fell to 19-10.

-- In an entertaining scrap, C.B. Dollaway (16-8) scored a unanimous-decision win (29-28, 29-27, 29-27) over Ed Herman (23-13, 1 NC). Dollaway was fighting for the first time since 2015 because of a freak injury caused by a malfunctioning elevator last year. Both men had their moments, exchanging strikes and submission attempts, but Dollaway’s wrestling played a key role in the decision.

-- One small mistake was all it took for Tecia Torres (9-1) to secure a submission victory over Juliana Lima (9-4). Lima went for a takedown but allowed Torres to get behind her during the attempt. Torres quickly got in her hooks and locked in a rear naked choke to force the submission. The defeat was the first time Lima has been stopped in professional MMA competition and the first time Torres has won via knockout or submission.

-- In the opener, former lightweight title challenger Gray Maynard (13-6-1, 1 NC) went back to the basics and utilized his wrestling to pick up a unanimous decision win (30-26, 30-26, 30-26) over Teruto Ishihara (9-4-2). Maynard had struggled mightily in recent fights with losses in five of his last six but Ishihara had no answers for the former All-American wrestler’s takedowns and top control.

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