Nick Newell, who faced Justin Gaethje for the WSOF title in 2014 and lost by TKO, has reflected on what makes Gaethje uniquely dangerous. Newell described Gaethje as a fighter who cannot be deterred by fatigue or damage, maintaining the same output and forward pressure regardless of how hard he has been pushed. Newell said the only two fighters he has ever observed with that quality are Gaethje and Dricus Du Plessis.
Nick Newell has opened up about his 2014 World Series of Fighting title bout against Justin Gaethje, offering a firsthand account of what separates the current lightweight champion from virtually every other fighter in the sport.
Newell, a 40-year-old southpaw who carries a 14-2-0 professional record, lost that WSOF championship fight to Gaethje by TKO. Despite the defeat, the experience gave him a close-up view of something he says he has rarely encountered in his career. Newell described Gaethje as a fighter who simply cannot be slowed down — someone who maintains the same relentless output and forward pressure no matter how much punishment he absorbs or how deep into a fight he goes.
The only other fighter Newell said he has observed with that same quality is Dricus Du Plessis, the South African middleweight ranked second in his division and seventh pound-for-pound. Du Plessis, 32, holds a 23-3-0 record and lands an impressive 5.18 significant strikes per minute while operating out of a switch stance and mixing in 2.22 takedown attempts per fifteen minutes.
Gaethje, for his part, has long backed up that reputation with his numbers. The 37-year-old from the United States lands 6.48 significant strikes per minute at a 58 percent accuracy rate — among the highest output figures in the lightweight division. Now the reigning lightweight champion with a 28-5-0 record, he has built his entire identity around the pressure-forward style Newell described.
Why it matters
- Newell's account adds rare firsthand perspective on what has made Gaethje so difficult to neutralize throughout his career
- Placing Du Plessis in the same category draws an intriguing cross-divisional comparison between two of the sport's most durable pressure fighters
- Both men rank among the most active strikers in their respective divisions by volume and accuracy
