Eric Nicksick wants Justin Gaethje to mix up his striking against Ilia Topuria.
Topuria (17-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC) unifies his lightweight title with interim champion Gaethje (27-5 MMA, 10-5 UFC) in the UFC Freedom 250 main event on June 14 from the White House in Washington D.C. (Paramount+). Not many fighters and pundits are giving huge underdog Gaethje a chance, but coach Nicksick explained how “The Highlight” can find success against Topuria.
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“I think Gaethje always has a chance in any fight,” Nicksick told Home of Fight. “I think Ilia has more paths to victory and more opportunities to win if he uses his grappling game, but I go back to the Poirier and Gaethje fight when Gaethje, out of nowhere, throws the same side head kick. And if I’m fighting Topuria, you have to keep his back hand active. You have to be able to jam that with the kicks.
“So if I’m on Gaethje’s side, I’m looking to kick a lot on the same side. I’m looking to exit with it, to keep his right hand busy. How do you keep it jammed? You have to kick that thing. The fight that he had with the British kid, he got hit with the head kick, Jai Herbert, there’s some flaws there. I’ve seen Topuria get head-kicked in some of those areas. So, with Trevor Wittman and Gaethje and those guys, they’re going to come up with a good game plan to make it competitive.”
Former two-division UFC champion Topuria has looked nearly flawless during his octagon tenure. He was dropped by a Jai Herbert head kick in his lightweight debut in March 2022 but rallied to knock him out in Round 2.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC White House: Coach shares Justin Gaethje’s clearest path to upset
