Justin Gaethje beats Michael Chandler

In the most action-packed MMA fight of 2021, Gaethje defeated Chandler by unanimous decision (29-29, 29-28, 30-27) in the UFC 268 main card on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden. Chandler rocked Gaethje in the first round. Gaethje nearly finished him in the second, bloodied Chandler. And the third was a symphony of back-and-forth violence. Neither man gave an inch.

“I knew exactly who the hell he was,” Gaethje said in his post-fight interview. “He’s a warrior. We live in the wrong times. He and I should have been fighting in the Coliseum. That’s what should have happened.”

Gaethje ranked No. 3 and Chandler ranked No. 4 in the world at lightweight entering the fight. Gaethje said all week that he believes he will have done enough for a title shot with a win. And he was the victor on Saturday night.

“Of course,” Gaethje said. “Who else?”

With fans going back and forth chanting for both men, Chandler lashed out at Gaethje with a big combination in the first round, throwing his head back. Chandler threw himself against the cage, but Gaethje survived the attack. In the second round, it was Gaethje’s turn. He dropped Chandler with an uppercut and tried to finish him on the ground. Chandler, bloodied and bruised, survived.

Chandler responded with big combinations to the body in the third round. But the uppercut was there twice for Gaethje, causing major damage again. Still, Chandler kept moving forward, smiling, blood pouring from his face and egging Gaethje on. Chandler was beckoning Gaethje forward and even lifted him up for a grand slam, though Gaethje scrambled as they hit the ground and took Chandler’s back.

Gaethje (23-3) has won five of six fights and the only loss during that time was to then-champ Khabib Nurmagomedov. Gaethje, 32, had nine performance bonuses in eight UFC fights and is set for his 10th.

Chandler (22-7) has lost two straight fights. In his last fight, he fell in a vacant title fight to Charles Oliveira at UFC 262 in May. Chandler, 35, is the former three-time Bellator lightweight champion.