{"id":243558,"date":"2017-07-04T06:40:49","date_gmt":"2017-07-04T13:40:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/?p=243558"},"modified":"2017-07-04T06:40:49","modified_gmt":"2017-07-04T13:40:49","slug":"former-wsof-champ-justin-gaethje-explains-picked-ufc-bellator","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/justin-gaethje\/former-wsof-champ-justin-gaethje-explains-picked-ufc-bellator\/","title":{"rendered":"Former WSOF champ Justin Gaethje explains why he picked the UFC over Bellator"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This Friday, in the main event of the Ultimate Fighter 25 Finale, former World Series of Fighting lightweight champion Justin Gaethje will make his anticipated debut in the UFC&#8217;s Octagon. The undefeated debutant will do so against the UFC&#8217;s sixth-ranked lightweight contender, Michael Johnson.<\/p>\n<p>If things had unfolded just a little bit differently, of course, Gaethje could have gone the way of other free agents like Rory MacDonald, Ryan Bader and Roy Nelson, and signed with the ever-growing Bellator MMA.<\/p>\n<p>Though he ultimately <a href=\"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/justin-gaethje\/ufc-reportedly-signs-justin-gaethje\/\">landed in the UFC<\/a>, Gaethje did negotiate with Bellator.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>\u201cThis is America, man. You\u2019ve got to negotiate,\u201d he explained <a href=\"http:\/\/mmajunkie.com\/2017\/07\/justin-gaethje-explains-why-he-chose-ufc-over-bellator\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">MMAjunkie Radio.<\/a> \u201cAs soon as I was a free agent I was a little nervous.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>While Gaethje says he had some good talks with Bellator, he explained that it was the promise of tougher opposition that drew him to the UFC. So long as the payday worked too, he knew this is wear he wanted to sign.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>\u201cHindsight, of course, I knew I was going to get a chance to fight Michael Johnson or somebody in the top five, top six,\u201d Gaethje said. \u201cAs long as the money matched up, I knew that\u2019s what I wanted to do.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cI give Bellator respect. They wanted me, and they respectfully came and tried to do it,\u201d he said. \u201cWe talked a couple times. I like those guys over there. I have nothing but respect for them.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Gaethje went 10-0 in the WSOF cage, and will enter his bout with Johnson with a sterling 17-0 overall record. <a href=\"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/justin-gaethje\/video-know-new-ufc-lightweight-justin-gaethje-knockout-filled-highlight-reel\/\">A whopping 14 of the wrestler&#8217;s 17 pro wins have come by way of knockout<\/a>, while one has come via submission, and just two have required the judges.<\/p>\n<p>Should Gaethje defeat Johnson, he will undoubtedly be just a win or two away from a UFC lightweight title shot.<\/p>\n<p>How do you think Justin Gaethje will do in the UFC?<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><i>This article first appeared on\u00a0<\/i><a href=\"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/\"><span class=\"s1\"><i>BJPenn.com<\/i><\/span><\/a><i>\u00a0on 7\/4\/2017.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This Friday, in the main event of the Ultimate Fighter 25 Finale, former World Series of Fighting lightweight champion Justin Gaethje will make his anticipated debut in the UFC&#8217;s Octagon. The undefeated debutant will do so against the UFC&#8217;s sixth-ranked lightweight contender, Michael Johnson. If things had unfolded just a little bit differently, of course, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54430,"featured_media":189554,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[25154],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v19.7 (Yoast SEO v19.14) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Former WSOF champ Justin Gaethje explains why he picked the UFC over Bellator | BJPenn.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/justin-gaethje\/former-wsof-champ-justin-gaethje-explains-picked-ufc-bellator\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Former WSOF champ Justin Gaethje explains why he picked the UFC over Bellator | BJPenn.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This Friday, in the main event of the Ultimate Fighter 25 Finale, former World Series of Fighting lightweight champion Justin Gaethje will make his anticipated debut in the UFC&#8217;s Octagon. The undefeated debutant will do so against the UFC&#8217;s sixth-ranked lightweight contender, Michael Johnson. If things had unfolded just a little bit differently, of course, [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/justin-gaethje\/former-wsof-champ-justin-gaethje-explains-picked-ufc-bellator\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"| BJPenn.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bjpenn\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-07-04T13:40:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Justin-Gaethje.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"730\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"380\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tom Taylor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@bjpenndotcom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@bjpenndotcom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Tom Taylor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/justin-gaethje\/former-wsof-champ-justin-gaethje-explains-picked-ufc-bellator\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/justin-gaethje\/former-wsof-champ-justin-gaethje-explains-picked-ufc-bellator\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Tom Taylor\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#\/schema\/person\/e1a3f1e5a045aeaf5b59aa1549a06a87\"},\"headline\":\"Former WSOF champ Justin Gaethje explains why he picked the UFC over Bellator\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-07-04T13:40:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-07-04T13:40:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/justin-gaethje\/former-wsof-champ-justin-gaethje-explains-picked-ufc-bellator\/\"},\"wordCount\":335,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Justin Gaethje\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"copyrightYear\":\"2017\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/justin-gaethje\/former-wsof-champ-justin-gaethje-explains-picked-ufc-bellator\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/justin-gaethje\/former-wsof-champ-justin-gaethje-explains-picked-ufc-bellator\/\",\"name\":\"Former WSOF champ Justin Gaethje explains why he picked the UFC over Bellator | BJPenn.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-07-04T13:40:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-07-04T13:40:49+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/justin-gaethje\/former-wsof-champ-justin-gaethje-explains-picked-ufc-bellator\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/justin-gaethje\/former-wsof-champ-justin-gaethje-explains-picked-ufc-bellator\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/justin-gaethje\/former-wsof-champ-justin-gaethje-explains-picked-ufc-bellator\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"MMA News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Justin Gaethje\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/justin-gaethje\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Former WSOF champ Justin Gaethje explains why he picked the UFC over Bellator\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/\",\"name\":\"| BJPenn.com\",\"description\":\"MMA &amp; 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