UFC 268 results: Justin Gaethje outlasts Michael Chandler in an incredible three-round war

The main card opener of UFC 268 somehow exceeded expectations as Justin Gaethje outpointed Michael Chandler.

The main card opener was exactly as advertised with two of the toughest lightweight fighters on the planet delivering an amazing fight.

[autotag]Justin Gaethje[/autotag] and Michael Chandler turned in a stunning 15 minutes of action in a fight that many did not believe would make it to the judges’ scorecards. There were a number of close calls throughout the fight, but the judges were ultimately needed, and they would see the contest in Gaethje’s favor with scores of 29-28, 29-28, and 30-27.

The lightweight bout opened up the UFC 268 main card at Madison Square Garden in New York. It aired on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPNews and early prelims on ESPN+.

As expected, the two met in the middle and immediately began looking to land strikes. After a few initial exchanges upstairs, they began trading leg kicks. The strikes to the lower half wouldn’t last long as they both returned to trading hard punches to the head. Gaethje (23-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC) would find a home for a hard right hand but Chandler (22-7 MMA, 1-2 UFC) would answer with one of his own moments later. Many more exchanges would soon follow.

The action seemed like it would slow for a moment, but Chandler landed a pair of hard right hands, wobbling Gaethje. Unwilling to back down, Gaethje returned fire, hurting Chandler much to the crowd’s delight. The back and forth action continued throughout the round. Chandler would shoot for a takedown first, but it was stuffed. The wild round would come to a close with both men visibly damaged.

Chandler started the second round working behind the left jab as Gaethje targeted the lead leg with hard kicks. Moments later after mixing in hard combinations upstairs, Gaethje landed clean to drop Chandler, who scrambled to lock up with his opponent to prevent the stoppage from coming.

Chants of “Let’s go Gaethje” rained in from the MSG crowd as the fighters started the final round. The hard exchanges continued from both fighters as they continued to dig deep and battle through the exhaustion. Chandler would lift up Gaethje for a huge slam, but somehow Gaethje rolled out upon landing, and they would return to the feet seconds later.

The two went back to landing bomb after bomb, as neither man refused to hit the canvas no matter how much damage they sustained. The pace slowed with just over a minute remaining in the bout, but given the action that unfolded throughout the fight, it was inevitable.

In the end, the judges would render their decision in favor of Gaethje.

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Gaethje rebounds from his title unification loss to the now-retired Khabib Nurmagomedov in a major way. The all-action fighter finds himself in a great position in the lightweight division as the likely number one contender to the title, which is set to be defended next month at UFC 269 when champ Charles Oliveira takes on challenger Dustin Poirier.

Chander drops two straight against top competition in the lightweight division. After entering the UFC with an incredible first-round stoppage of Dan Hooker, he came up short in a wild back-and-forth fight for the vacant title against Oliveira. Now 1-2 since entering the UFC, it’s back to the drawing board for the incredibly talented former Bellator champ.

Up-to-the-minute UFC 268 results include:

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