LAS VEGAS: Justin Gaethje finished battering Michael Johnson and ran off to climb the cage in celebration of his debut UFC victory. He briefly stood atop the fence, but slipped, hitting his head while falling six feet back to the canvas.
He fell again on his second attempt, but Gaethje found his balance on his third try. He returned to earth with a joyous, graceful backflip.
“I’m not a quitter. I proved it,” the lightweight said with a grin. “Hey, it was really slippery up there. I was tired. But I can nail (the backflip) 10 out of 10 times once I get up there and plant my feet. I only (do it) when I get a sweet knockout, and that was sweet.”
Gaethje has spent years working to reach the biggest stage in mixed martial arts (MMA). When the former college wrestler finally hit the big-time Friday night, he showed why he could be the UFC’s next big thing.
Gaethje (18-0) stopped Johnson in the second round of a savage fight that encapsulated his entire style. From the opening minute to the final flurry, he lived up to his reputation as a fighter with punishing skills, athletic brilliance and a reckless disregard for his own safety.
“I’ve got the biggest heart, and I’m the most violent guy in the division,” Gaethje said. “I’ll prove it time and time again. I’ll take the most boring fighter and have Fight of the Year. That’s what I do. I’m an entertainer.”
The UFC agrees. Its chief Dana White awarded Gaethje two bonuses totaling $100,000 after the bout.
Gaethje got wobbled and hurt by Johnson during a frenetic first round and again in the second, but the UFC newcomer took control of the fight after staggering Johnson midway through the round with a knee to the body. Gaethje finished the veteran Johnson (18-12) with primal punches and knees that elicited gasps from the T-Mobile Arena crowd.
Next up for Gaethje might be lightweight powerhouses Tony Ferguson or Khabib Nurmagomedov, although Gaethje does not have their pedigree just yet. It might even be lightweight champion Conor McGregor, who took time out during his training for Floyd Mayweather to catch Gaethje’s performance.
Earlier, welterweight Jesse Taylor stopped Dhiego Lima with a second-round choke to win the finale of “The Ultimate Fighter,” the UFC’s long-running reality competition show.
In the culmination of a remarkable redemption story, the 34-year-old Taylor earned a spot back in the UFC nine years after he was dropped from the promotion. With his victory, Taylor earned $290,000.
Gaethje stops Johnson in second round of spectacular UFC debut
Gaethje stops Johnson in second round of spectacular UFC debut
PSG star Hakimi faces trial for alleged rape
- The 27-year-old Moroccan international denies any wrongdoing
- “I contest it and everything proves that it is false,” Hakimi wrote on X
PARIS: Paris Saint-Germain footballer Achraf Hakimi, a key player in their Champions League-winning side last season, is to stand trial charged with raping a young woman, his lawyer and a French prosecutor told AFP Tuesday.
In February 2023, a woman then aged 24 told police in Val-De-Marne southeast of Paris that Hakimi had raped her.
The 27-year-old Moroccan international, who played a pivotal role in Morocco becoming the first African and Arab side to reach the World Cup semifinals when they made the last four in 2022, denies any wrongdoing.
“Today, a rape accusation is enough to justify a trial, even though I contest it and everything proves that it is false,” he wrote on X on Tuesday.
“I await this trial calmly, which will allow the truth to come out publicly.”
Hakimi’s lawyer Fanny Colin said a trial had been ordered and the prosecutor in the Nanterre suburb of Paris confirmed it.
“A trial has been ordered on the basis of an accusation that rests solely on the word of a woman who obstructed all investigations, refused all medical examinations and DNA tests, refused to allow her mobile phone to be examined, and refused to give the name of a key witness,” Colin said.
The plaintiff said she met Hakimi in January 2023 on Instagram and went to his home in a taxi ordered by the player, a police source said at the time.
She claimed that the player kissed her, touched her without her consent and then raped her.
She said she managed to push him away and text a friend, who came to pick her up.
PSG coach Luis Enrique when asked about it at Tuesday’s press conference, ahead of the Champions League play-off second leg match with Monaco, said: “This matter is in the hands of the authorities.”
The plaintiff’s lawyer, Rachel-Flore Pardo, said her client was relieved to hear the case was going to court.
She said the judiciary had been exemplary in handling the case.
But its treatment in general showed “there are still areas where the #MeToo movement has not yet breached the sound barrier, chiefly in men’s football,” she added.
Hakimi, born in Spain to a Moroccan mother, trained with Real Madrid making his senior debut for them in 2017.
He was also one of Morocco’s superstars during the Africa Cup of Nations, with the host team making it to the final where they lost in a chaotic climax to the tournament to Senegal.
Hakimi joined PSG in 2021, after stints with Borussia Dortmund and Inter Milan.
