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• Updated Jun 15, 2026 at 1:21am

Justin Gaethje has shocked the MMA world. The former two-time interim champion stopped undefeated champion Ilia Topuria at the end of round four after Topuria’s corner stopped the fight because of the damage the Georgian took. An amazing achievement for the American fighter during the UFC Freedom 250 event.

Ilia Topuria came into this fight with an undefeated record and was looking to defend his lightweight title for the first time. Interim champion Gaethje got his third shot at the undisputed title. Gaethje lost the first two times he fought for the undisputed title. For Gaethje, the third time’s a charm.

Justin Gaethje Fought The Fight Of His Life

Topuria immediately walked forward to Gaethje. Gaethje jabbed and kicked Topuria, but it didn’t have much effect on him. Topuria landed a hard punch, but Gaethje took it. Gaethje tagged Topuria’s eye. The eye looked damaged. Both guys were trying to land hard shots but missed. Topuria pressured, but Gaethje’s jab was on point. Both guys were trading heavy punches to the head. Topuria started to land more at the end of the round. Overall, it was a great opening round for the challenger.

Topuria kept chasing Gaethje in the second round. Gaethje tried to create distance but got hit with a hard punch. Topuria wasn’t able to land more follow-up shots. Also, Gaethje landed in the counter. Topuria started to land on Gaethje’s body. Gaethje got hurt, and Topuria tried to follow up on the body. The American fighter had to defend, but went down with another shot to the body. Topuria followed Gaethje to the ground and got in full mount. The Georgian tried to go for the mounted triangle choke. Topuria switched to the armbar, but Gaethje got out. The champion ended the second round on top.

Gaethje clinched early on in the third round. Both guys looked fatigued but were very aware of each other’s movements. Gaethje jabbed Topuria hard and, out of nowhere, landed a massive shot that wobbled the champion. Gaethje tried to go for a d’arce choke but let it go. Topuria was in trouble on the feet. Gaethje looked way fresher, while Topuria looked very fatigued. A great round for the challenger.

It looked like the doctor was going to stop the fight, but Topuria was able to convince the officials to let the fight go on. Gaethje went for the takedown in the fourth round, but Topuria was able to get up immediately.  Topuria had massive swelling on his face, but kept coming forward. Gaethje’s uppercut hurt Topuria, but the American fighter wasn’t rushing anything. With a minute to go in the fourth round, Topuria went for a takedown and got in full mount. Gaethje was able to manoeuvre out of it. It looked like there was going to be a fifth and final round, but Topuria’s coach, Javi Climent, stopped the fight. Topuria was completely done. An amazing and unexpected win for Justin Gaethje, who is now the undisputed UFC lightweight champion.

Full Results UFC Freedom 250

Main Card 

• Justin Gaethje def. Ilia Topuria via TKO (corner stoppage) – R4, 5:00.
• Ciryl Gane def. Alex Pereira via TKO (punches) – R2, 1:27.
• Sean O’Malley def. Aiemann Zahabi via TKO (punches) – R2, 4:02.
• Josh Hokit def. Derrick Lewis via TKO (punches) – R2, 4:09.
• Mauricio Ruffy def. Michael Chandler via TKO (punches) – R1, 4:29.
• Bo Nickal def. Kyle Daukaus via TKO (punches) – R1, 4:34.
• Diego Lopes def. Steve Garcia via KO (punches) – R2, 2:42.