Gaethje bucks odds, topples Topuria for UFC lightweight title - ESPN

Justin Gaethje finally reached the mountaintop and forced Ilia Topuria to retire at the end of Round 4 in a brutal and violent showdown to become the undisputed UFC lightweight champion.

It was a monumental upset in a Fight of the Year candidate that headlined UFC Freedom 250 at the White House in front of President Trump and over 4,000 fans, with another estimated 80,000 on The Ellipse exploding into jubilation for the American who finally realized his dream of becoming the undisputed champion.

«I told myself I was going to lose, and I told myself I was going to get embarrassed, so that I can go to my most primal place and dig deep,» Gaethje said. «That guy had me in trouble. He had me rocked, smoked my liver, and I still stuck in it.»

The unprecedented fight card on the White House's South Lawn was delayed 45 minutes by inclement weather but eventually went on without a hitch as Gaethje's stunning finish completed a night where every single fight ended in a knockout, the first time it had happened in UFC history.

But the outstanding battle between Topuria and Gaethje highlighted the historic seven fight card that was staged underneath the 92-foot-high structure known as «the claw» constructed specifically for this event.

The previously undefeated Topuria, 29, has been on a generational roll as of late, knocking out former champions Alexander Volkanovski, Max Holloway and Charles Oliveira in consecutive fights to win world titles at featherweight and lightweight before heading to the nation's capital in an attempt to become the first UFC fighter to defend world titles in two different weight classes. But he had never been in a back-and-forth battle like he was with Gaethje, who has made a career out of exhilarating