Justin Gaethje shares chaotic story of cutting weight, binge eating, and rebooking Tony Ferguson fight

Justin Gaethje recently recalled the events leading up to his fight against Tony Ferguson at UFC 249. He described the chaos he experienced as he cut weight twice in preparation for the matchup.

'El Cucuy' was originally scheduled to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov in a lightweight title unification bout at UFC 249. However, due to COVID-19 restrictions, Nurmagomedov was unable to participate. As a result, Gaethje was called in as a replacement to face Ferguson.

During an episode of THE HOTWASH by Born Primitive Tactical, Gaethje shared more details about the lead-up to the fight at UFC 249, saying:

"Khabib [Nurmagomedov] was supposed to fight Tony Ferguson. Khabib went to Russia, and then he couldn't get back because they wouldn't allow anybody into the country. And so they called me 13 days before the fight and were like, 'Do you want to fight Tony Ferguson for an interim championship fight?' And I weighed probably like 182 [pounds]..."

He added:

"So, I was like, let's do it... Two days later, they call me like, 'It's off.' And I had cut down to like, 176 [pounds]... So, I was like, 'F**k.' So, we ordered Pizza Hut and I ate a sh*t ton of pizza and I got like 184 pounds. And then the next morning, they called me like, 'Fight's back on.' I was like, 'What the f**k?'"

Check out Justin Gaethje's comments below (1:19:41):

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When Justin Gaethje issued brutal reality check to Tony Ferguson following UFC 249

Justin Gaethje entered his fight against Tony Ferguson at UFC 249 on a three-fight winning streak. In contrast, Ferguson had a win streak of 12 fights. However, despite that, Gaethje put on a dominant performance, defeating Ferguson by TKO.

Several months later, 'El Cucuy' posted a video on X, addressing Gaethje and Charles Oliveira with a message.

"I’ll Give You Elite, Fuck🖕😎You @Justin_Gaethje & @CharlesDoBronxs You Didn’t Finish Shit. Told You I’d See You Soon. Crew🍃Much Easier To See The Targets When They Are In Front. Beyond🎓Disciplined. New Camp, New Times -Champ ⚔️🕶 -CSO- 🇺🇸🏆🇲🇽 @CervezaMontejo ThisIsForLaRaza🎶"

In response, Gaethje clapped back at Ferguson and wrote:

"Charles couldn’t finish you but I certainly did. Check the tape champ."