Justin Gaethje loses Fighter of the Year ESPY to Terence Crawford
Justin Gaethje’s year has been a wild one that led to becoming undisputed UFC lightweight champion — but it wasn’t enough to take home an ESPY award.
“The Highlight” was the lone MMA fighter nominated for this year’s Fighter of the Year award for ESPN’s annual award show. In the end, Gaethje lost to recently-retired boxer Terence Crawford.
Pat McAfee announced Crawford as the winner during his show on Wednesday prior to the actual ceremony.
Other nominees include fellow boxers Gabriela Fundora and Claressa Shields. Crawford won the award with a victory over Canelo Alvarez this past September in his lone bout during the threshold.
Gaethje returned from a brutal knockout loss to Max Holloway at UFC 300 in April 2024 with a win over Rafael Fiziev at UFC 313 in March 2025. Gaethje went on to dominate Paddy Pimblett to win the interim lightweight title at UFC 324 in January, then pulled off one of the most stunning upsets in UFC history with a fourth-round TKO win over Ilia Topuria to unify the belts at UFC White House in June.
