When Justin Gaethje beat Ilia Topuria, he didn’t just change his own career and Topuria’s; he also changed Anthony Joshua’s.
At UFC White House, Gaethje scored one of the most remarkable upsets in UFC history, breaking Topuria over four rounds to claim the undisputed lightweight title. It was a monster upset for Gaethje, and a devastating loss for Topuria, who not only lost his undefeated record, but also much of the aura around him.
Before losing to Gaethje, Topuria was on a generational run through the UFC and carrying himself with the swagger of prime Conor McGregor, even celebrating victories before the fights. But after losing to Gaethje, Topuria’s confidence now looks like arrogance, and it caused former heavyweight boxing champion Anthony Joshua to rethink his own career.
“It’s not all fun and games. It’s a serious, serious, serious job,” Joshua told Combat Evolved. … When I watched that Ilia Topuria fight and [Justin Gaethje], when I watched that fight, I stopped replying to people after that, because I said, ‘’It’s not a joke.’
“I saw someone in Ilia who was destined to win. The stars were aligned for him to be victorious. I think Ilia had beaten people that Justin had lost against, you know, the odds were in his favor. And that’s what I’m saying. Ilia — not that it was a bad thing, but I saw him celebrating before. He’s entitled to do what he wants, but I just took something from it and said, ‘Get back to being uncontactable, less accessible, because the fight game is so serious.’”
Joshua is highly accomplished in his own right, winning a gold medal at the 2012 Olympic Games before turning professional, where he is a two-time unified heavyweight champion. Like Topuria, “AJ” suffered an unexpected upset loss when he was in the prime of his stardom, getting stopped by Andy Ruiz Jr. to lose his unified heavyweight title in 2019. But even with his own experiences to draw from, Joshua still said that Topuria’s loss was so jarring that it made him refocus.
“Like, you saw his face, what he went through,” Joshua said. “It’s not a joke, man. It’s not a joke.
“And what do I want? I want to improve. I want to stay away from people that don’t really get what the fight game’s about, who think it’s just lit and want to be there for the bright lights and the entertainment. And I want to create a little army of soldiers who just love fighting. All my friends will be fighting mentality. I don’t want people around that — my friends over here partying, my friends over here for this. My army is fight-focused.”
Right now, Joshua is focused on his upcoming fight with Kristian Prenga, which takes place on July 25, and serves as Joshua’s warm-up fight before his planned showdown with Tyson Fury later this year.
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FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Damien Anderson (5-0) vs. Ezra Elliott (7-0); UFC Oklahoma City, July 18.
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FINAL THOUGHTS
I am on vacation for a week, will be back with the Morning Report soon! — Lee
I just got off vacation, so I’ll have all your TMRs. Don’t worry. — Meshew
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