Fight history
Gaethje vs. Topuria, UFC Freedom 250: The Upset, the Judges and the Stats
Topuria dropped Gaethje and nearly finished him in the second round. Two rounds later his corner stopped the fight, with Gaethje ahead on all three cards.
Topuria
GaethjeAt a glance
- ResultGaethje by TKO (corner stoppage), round 4, 5:00; referee Marc Goddard
- The judgesBen Cartlidge, Derek Cleary and Sal D'Amato all had Gaethje ahead 39-37
- The stakesTitle unification: Topuria's first lightweight defense, Gaethje's third try at the undisputed belt
- The statsTopuria led significant strikes 97-91 and had the only official knockdown; outside round 2 Gaethje led 79-53
- The bonusesFight of the Night, plus Performance of the Night for Gaethje: $825,000 for him in all
- Our card38-37 Gaethje after four rounds, with round 2 a 10-8 for Topuria
What was at stake
Both lightweight titles. Ilia Topuria had held the undisputed belt since knocking out Charles Oliveira in the first round at UFC 317 in June 2025, as theScore and ClutchPoints record, and UFC Freedom 250 on June 14, 2026, was his first defense of it. He was 29, 17-0, a former featherweight champion and No. 2 on the men's pound-for-pound rankings, according to theScore and PostWrestling. PostWrestling and MixedMartialArts.com note that he had not fought for almost a year.
Justin Gaethje, 37, was the interim champion after a unanimous decision over Paddy Pimblett at UFC 324 in January 2026, his third win in a row since Max Holloway knocked him out at UFC 300, as theScore and ClutchPoints report. It was his third try at the undisputed title. The first two ended in stoppage losses, to Khabib Nurmagomedov in 2020 and Oliveira in 2022, as theScore and the official record show.
Topuria predicted a first-round knockout, Heavy and Cageside Press report. Gaethje was a heavy underdog: about 6 to 1 according to MixedMartialArts.com and Rova, +400 in Heavy's report.
The official result and the judges' cards
| Winner | Method | Round | Time | Referee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Justin Gaethje | TKO (corner stoppage) | 4 of 5 | 5:00 | Marc Goddard |
The UFC's official scorecard records "Winner by TKO Corner Stoppage at 5:00 of Round 4"; the official statistics agree, and both name Marc Goddard as the referee. Some reports call it a retirement on the stool.
Four full rounds were scored, so this finish has real cards. The UFC's scorecard and UFCalendar give the same scores, round by round:
| Judge | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ben Cartlidge | 10-9 | 9-10 | 10-9 | 10-9 | 39-37 |
| Derek Cleary | 10-9 | 9-10 | 10-9 | 10-9 | 39-37 |
| Sal D'Amato | 10-9 | 9-10 | 10-9 | 10-9 | 39-37 |
Gaethje's score first. Heavy and theScore also report 39-37 on all three cards, and Heavy gives the same split of rounds.
A 10-8 fifth round would only have drawn it for Topuria; as Heavy puts it, he needed a finish. Heavy also saw an argument for a 10-8 in his favor in round 2, but all three judges gave it 10-9. The media split on round 1: PostWrestling gave Topuria the edge "with crisp punches to the head", MixedMartialArts.com gave Gaethje the round for "landing the bigger shots", and theScore called it "a competitive opening round".
Round by round
Round 1 - Gaethje on all three cards
Gaethje opened behind his jab and had Topuria bleeding early, which Cageside Press and ClutchPoints both report. Topuria came on late and backed Gaethje to the fence, as Cageside and LowKick MMA describe. Officially Gaethje landed 32 of 68 significant strikes to Topuria's 29 of 58, and 30 to 19 to the head.
Round 2 - Topuria on all three cards
Topuria went to the body, hurt Gaethje and dropped him with a body shot, which theScore, Cageside, Heavy and LowKick all report. He took full mount and went for an armbar and a triangle, as Cageside and Heavy describe, and finished the round on top. The official count: 44 of 60 significant strikes for Topuria, 24 of them to the body, against 12 of 35, plus the fight's only official knockdown and 2:02 of control. It records no submission attempts, although the reports describe several.
Round 3 - Gaethje on all three cards
Topuria slowed, as Cageside and PostWrestling both say: he threw 60 significant strikes in round 2 and 15 in round 3. Gaethje kept jabbing, then landed a right hand that put Topuria on the canvas, an overhand right in PostWrestling's account and a right hand in SunStar's and GMA News's. He went for a d'Arce choke, as LowKick and Heavy report; Topuria got back up, and Gaethje hurt him again late in the round, as Cageside and ClutchPoints report.
Here the reports and the record part. The official statistics give Gaethje no knockdown and no takedown in the round, while theScore has him dragging Topuria to the ground and ClutchPoints has him taking him down. The count does show the round's shape: 22 of 36 significant strikes for Gaethje, 19 of them to the head, against 7 of 15, and 47 seconds of control.
Between rounds the doctor checked Topuria's eyes. He could be heard saying he could not see out of his eye, as Cageside, theScore and LowKick report, but he wanted to continue and Goddard let the fight go on, as Cageside and ClutchPoints describe.
Round 4 - Gaethje on all three cards, then the stoppage
An uppercut hurt Topuria, as Cageside, Heavy and LowKick report, though he landed a hard right hand of his own, which Cageside and LowKick both note. With about a minute left he took Gaethje down and mounted him, as theScore and Heavy describe. Gaethje got out, stuffed a second attempt and ended the round with a knee to the body, as Cageside, LowKick and Field Level Media report. Officially Gaethje out-landed him 25 of 53 to 17 of 29 in significant strikes and 40 to 20 in total strikes; Topuria's takedown was the only one of the fight.
Topuria did not come out for the fifth, and the reports differ on how. Heavy says his brother Aleksandre stopped it, and LowKick quotes Gaethje's coach Trevor Wittman saying the same; Cageside described Aleksandre urging him on and Topuria appearing to retire on his stool. We go by the official record: a corner stoppage.
What the numbers say
The official statistics, round by round (Gaethje first; landed/thrown for significant strikes, landed/attempted for takedowns):
| Round | KD | Sig. strikes | Head | Body | Legs | TD | Control |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R1 | 0 – 0 | 32/68 – 29/58 | 30 – 19 | 2 – 7 | 0 – 3 | 0/3 – 0/0 | 0:00 – 0:00 |
| R2 | 0 – 1 | 12/35 – 44/60 | 11 – 19 | 1 – 24 | 0 – 1 | 0/1 – 0/0 | 0:00 – 2:02 |
| R3 | 0 – 0 | 22/36 – 7/15 | 19 – 5 | 2 – 2 | 1 – 0 | 0/0 – 0/1 | 0:47 – 0:05 |
| R4 | 0 – 0 | 25/53 – 17/29 | 19 – 12 | 3 – 4 | 3 – 1 | 0/1 – 1/2 | 0:45 – 0:25 |
| Total | 0 – 1 | 91/192 – 97/162 | 79 – 55 | 8 – 37 | 4 – 5 | 0/5 – 1/3 | 1:32 – 2:32 |
On the main counts, Topuria won the fight he lost: more significant strikes, 97 to 91, at 60% accuracy to 47%, the only official knockdown, the only takedown and a minute more control. UFCalendar's totals match these, and the total-strike count, 119 to 111 for Gaethje, matches SunStar's.
The totals hide where the strikes came from. Topuria landed 44 of his 97 significant strikes, and 24 of his 37 body shots, in round 2. In the other three rounds Gaethje out-landed him 79 to 53. Rounds are scored one at a time, and even a dominant round is rarely scored wider than 10-8.
The targets tell the rest. Gaethje landed 79 of his 91 significant strikes to the head; Topuria landed 37 of 45 to the body. That fits what happened to Topuria's eyes, and his output fell with them: 58 and 60 significant strikes thrown in rounds 1 and 2, then 15 and 29.
The numbers cannot settle the third-round knockdown, or the submission attempts, that the reports describe and the official count does not record. Nor do they measure damage. Topuria's face was swollen and bloody by the end, as theScore, Cageside Press and MixedMartialArts.com describe, and that is what ended the fight.
How we scored it
| Round | MMA.SOCIAL | Why |
|---|---|---|
| R1 | 10-9 Gaethje | 32-29 in significant strikes and 30-19 to the head, and Topuria was bleeding early. Topuria's late body work made it close. |
| R2 | 10-8 Topuria | A knockdown, full mount, 44-12 in significant strikes and two minutes of control. Gaethje only survived. |
| R3 | 10-9 Gaethje | 22-7 in significant strikes, the right hand that put Topuria down and more damage late. Not a 10-8: the official count has no knockdown, and the margin is about half of round 2's. |
| R4 | 10-9 Gaethje | 25-17 in significant strikes and 40-20 in total strikes, the uppercut and the closing knee. Topuria's late takedown and mount kept it from being wider. |
| After four | 38-37 Gaethje | Then the corner stoppage. |
We are one point closer than the judges because we score round 2 10-8: a knockdown, the mount, a 32-strike margin and two minutes of control. Heavy saw the case too. The judges' 10-9 is defensible, since Gaethje survived the round and won the next one clearly, and it does not change who was ahead.
We see no case for Topuria in rounds 3 or 4. MixedMartialArts.com wrote that he "arguably won the fourth on output", but Gaethje threw 53 significant strikes in that round to Topuria's 29 and landed 25 to 17, and the official count has Topuria landing two significant strikes on the ground in the round. Round 1 is the closest call. We side with the judges because Gaethje landed more, landed more to the head and drew first blood. On our card Topuria needed a 10-8 fifth round to win. He did not get the chance.
What happened next
Gaethje called it "absolutely legendary", in words theScore and Cageside Press both print, and said Topuria's "skills are unmatched when he's fresh", as theScore, PostWrestling and Rova quote him. "That guy had me in trouble," he said, according to theScore and the Daily Guardian. "He had me rocked." Cageside Press and Field Level Media both report him saying: "when he didn't get the finish at the end of the second round, I think it really took his spirit." The bout won Fight of the Night, and Gaethje also took a Performance of the Night award, $825,000 in bonuses in all, according to Cageside Press, HITC and the Daily Guardian.
The win made Gaethje 28-5 and Topuria 17-1, as Field Level Media and theScore record.
Topuria was taken to hospital, HITC and LowKick MMA report. Accounts of the injury range from one orbital fracture (MMA Sucka) to two and a broken nose (Yahoo Sports), but Yahoo, MMA Sucka and LowKick agree that no surgery was needed. Both men got 180-day medical suspensions, according to Yahoo Sports and LowKick. Topuria's statement, printed by LowKick, MMA Sucka and Rova, said: "You took the sight from my right eye in the first round, and by the end of the second, from my left too. No excuses." It ended: "this story between us is far from over. We will have our rematch."
Some fans and fighters said he quit on the stool, as Heavy and HITC note. Gaethje disagreed, in words Heavy and MMA Sucka both print: "He didn't quit on the stool, his body was too compromised to continue fighting. He didn't make the call, his coaches made the call because they're there to protect him."
Nothing is booked. Gaethje said Topuria needs a win before another title shot, which SportBible and LowKick report, and Topuria's camp is aiming for early 2027, according to Yahoo Sports and SportBible. Gaethje has not fought since or said whether he will fight again, as Yahoo Sports, Heavy and SportBible note. Alexander Volkanovski, who beat Movsar Evloev at UFC 333 on October 24, has proposed a lightweight title fight with Gaethje after which both would retire, and Dana White has sounded open to it, as Yahoo Sports and MMA Sucka both report. Arman Tsarukyan, still waiting for a title shot, is less patient: "Someone is trying to duck me; it's Justin Gaethje," he said, in words Yahoo Sports and MMA Sucka both print.
The verdict
Gaethje vs. Topuria is not a disputed result, and the upset was earned. Topuria won one round by a wide margin and nearly finished the fight in it, which is why he leads the official totals. Gaethje won the other three on every card and on ours, survived Topuria's best round and did the damage that ended the fight. The judges' 39-37 could fairly have been 38-37, but no reasonable card had Topuria ahead. After two failed tries at the undisputed title, Gaethje won it at 37, against the man ranked second in the world pound for pound.
Full fight stats: Gaethje vs. Topuria. The rest of the night: UFC Freedom 250. More: the most title fights in UFC history.
Sources
- UFCStats round-by-round statistics (scrape_ufc_stats mirror)
- UFCStats fight results, method and referee (scrape_ufc_stats mirror)
- UFC.com - UFC Freedom 250 official scorecards
- UFCalendar - Topuria vs. Gaethje result, judges and stats
- Heavy - Scorecards revealed for Justin Gaethje vs. Ilia Topuria
- theScore - Gaethje shocks Topuria to win the undisputed UFC title
- theScore - UFC Freedom 250 takeaways
- Cageside Press - Justin Gaethje breaks Ilia Topuria to claim undisputed gold
- Cageside Press - Gaethje collects $825K in bonus money
- Cageside Press - Gaethje: the Holloway knockout makes this win "so much more special"
- PostWrestling - UFC Freedom 250 results: Gaethje upsets Topuria
- MixedMartialArts.com - Freedom 250 wrap-up: Gaethje upsets Topuria
- Heavy - Justin Gaethje stops Ilia Topuria
- LowKick MMA - Gaethje vs. Topuria highlights and result
- ClutchPoints - Gaethje upsets Topuria at UFC Freedom 250
- GMA News - Gaethje stops Topuria to win the lightweight title
- SunStar - Quijano: Veteran Gaethje's night at UFC Freedom 250
- Field Level Media - Gaethje stops Topuria at UFC Freedom 250
- Heavy - Topuria predicts he will finish Gaethje
- Rova - Topuria's statement after the loss to Gaethje
- HITC - Gaethje pockets $825,000 in bonuses
- Daily Guardian - Gaethje takes home $825,000 in bonuses
- LowKick MMA - Topuria breaks his silence after his first loss
- MMA Sucka - Topuria sends first message after the Gaethje defeat
- HITC - Gaethje rejects claims that Topuria quit
- Heavy - Gaethje: Topuria "didn't quit on the stool"
- MMA Sucka - Gaethje defends Topuria, says he didn't quit
- LowKick MMA - Gaethje sends a message to Topuria
- LowKick MMA - Gaethje breaks down how he beat Topuria
- Yahoo Sports - Topuria handed a six-month suspension
- SportBible - Topuria's comeback target and possible opponents
- Yahoo Sports - Volkanovski wants a superfight with Gaethje
- Yahoo Sports - Tsarukyan on Gaethje's future
- MMA Sucka - Dana White responds to Volkanovski's Gaethje superfight idea
- MMA Sucka - Volkanovski vs. Gaethje talk and the Tsarukyan option
Questions
Who won Gaethje vs. Topuria?
Justin Gaethje, by TKO when Ilia Topuria's corner stopped the fight at the end of the fourth round of UFC Freedom 250 on June 14, 2026. Gaethje unified the UFC lightweight title and handed Topuria the first loss of his career.
What were the scorecards for Gaethje vs. Topuria?
All three judges, Ben Cartlidge, Derek Cleary and Sal D'Amato, had Gaethje ahead 39-37 when the fight was stopped. Each gave Gaethje rounds 1, 3 and 4 and Topuria round 2, all by 10-9.
Did Topuria quit against Gaethje?
The official result is a corner stoppage: the fight was stopped from Topuria's corner after the fourth round, with his eyes badly swollen. Some fans said he quit on the stool. Gaethje has said he did not, and that Topuria's coaches made the call to protect him.
Did Topuria knock Gaethje down?
Yes. A body shot dropped Gaethje in the second round, the only knockdown in the official statistics. Several reports also describe Gaethje putting Topuria down with a right hand in the third, but the official count does not record a knockdown.
How big an upset was Gaethje vs. Topuria?
Gaethje was a heavy underdog: about 6 to 1 according to MixedMartialArts.com and Rova, and +400 in Heavy's report. Topuria was 17-0 and No. 2 on the men's pound-for-pound rankings.
Will Gaethje and Topuria have a rematch?
Nothing is booked. Topuria has said he wants one and his camp is aiming for a return in early 2027, while Gaethje has said Topuria needs a win first and has not decided whether he will fight again.
