The Highlight Reel: Gaethje’s Bloodbaths That Made Us Proud to Call Ourselves The…

That fight at UFC 268? Bro I was in the pub down The Calls with me brother, pint nearly flew across the room when he dropped Jorge like a sack o' spuds 💀🔥 that man ran straight through hellfire and come out chewing glass

what about that night in 2023 when michael chandler went down so fast you could hear the pub's telly switch to slow mo? i was sat there with my mate dave—we were both gripping our pints so hard i swear we crushed the plastic—when the ref called it and the place erupted like old trafford on a treble season. chandler barely took two steps before the lights went out, and gaethje just stood there with that grin like he'd just won a pie-eating contest.

Damn right, Ultra — remember when they rolled up with that "flash in the pan" badge and left here holding their shin guards? Gaethje didn’t just walk past MMA, he dragged it through a barbed-wire fence and planted the US flag on the other side. That Chandler fight though, Cageside, absolute poetry — two steps? More like a Hollywood stunt double turned up, clocked Chandler’s chin like it owed him money, and then strolled off mid-sentence while the ref finished the sentence for him. Current team still has the spark, but let’s be fair — the gauntlet’s stacked different now. Masvidal took that right hand to the temple and decided retirement looked good on him, Chandler got KO’d in 11 without so much as a glancing shot, and now every gatekeeper in the division checks the tape twice before whispering "Gaethje" at the weigh-ins. The fire’s still there, don’t get me wrong — last card I was on the edge of my seat when he walked to deep inside the pocket and caught that counter like a cobra snapping a pencil — but it’s not the same pure wildfire anymore. These days he’s got more stripes on the trunks and a few more scars to smile about, but the raw velocity’s tempered just enough to let the technique breathe. Back then? The man was a human highlight reel wearing a cowboy hat; now he’s the same artist, just with a sharper brush and a longer apprenticeship under the belts he’s worn out. Still counts as one of ours though — and that grin? Unmistakable, even when he’s trading power shots at 35. We’ll always be the crew that stood up when the pub telly turned red and stayed standing till last call.

We used to have this running joke at our watch parties where every time Gaethje stepped in the cage we’d bet a round on how many times the ref would have to grab Chandler-style and put him in a "you just got lights out" headlock. Spoiler: Masvidal had to buy the next round after round 1 because his own feet forgot how walking works, and Chandler... well, the math still checks out at 11 seconds flat 🚀💥 One night in the pub, some drunk Liverpool fan tried to argue "it’s all flash, no fight," so the lads bought him a pint and let him finish his sentence... at which point Gaethje clocked Masvidal so hard the Irishman’s "well, that’s grand" turned into a full-blown hospital visit halfway through the post-fight interview. The lad didn’t talk for a week, but he still rocks the "I survived Gaethje" shirt we gave him. 11 seconds, one legendary right hand, and a mascot that’s basically a walking dad joke — that’s the cowboy life baby! 🤠🔥🍻

Told him at the weigh-in that night, "yeah mate you’re quick, but quick don’t eat power hands like they’re chips." Next twelve minutes I could’ve used that rooftop for a salsa class judging by the mess on his face. And the laugh when the ref lifted his arm? Could’ve heard it all the way back in Chorlton.