NEW YORK - Fights that are expected to be as violent as the one between Justin Gaethje and Michael Chandler sometimes underdeliver. Not this time. In fact, it was just the opposite.
In the most action-packed MMA fight of 2021, Gaethje defeated Chandler via unanimous decision (29-29, 29-28, 30-27) on the UFC 268 main card Saturday night at Madison Square Garden. Chandler rocked Gaethje in the first round. Gaethje nearly finished in the second, badly bloodying Chandler. And the third was a back-and-forth symphony of violence. Neither man gave an inch.
"I knew exactly who the f--- he was," Gaethje said in his postfight interview.