Justin Gaethje (photo via UFC)

By FCF Staff

Eddie Alvarez became the first and only fighter to defeat Justin Gaethje in December. But, the latter’s coach believes his fighter was a round away from “breaking” the former lightweight champ.

Alvarez and Gaethje fought at UFC 218, in what was one of the year’s most thrilling contests. Alvarez ended up winning the bout, however, by flooring the former WSOF champion with a third round knee. Recently Gaethje’s coach, Trevor Whittman, spoke with UFC.com, and he had this to say about the epic battle:

“The last fight with Eddie Alvarez, I felt we were right on the way to breaking him,” he says of Gaethje’s UFC 218 clash with the former lightweight champion. “Eddie, you can’t take nothing away from him – he won the fight and picked a beautiful combination to do it, throwing two wide hooks to open up the elbows and touching the head before bringing a knee right up the middle. That was a work of art and much credit to him, but I felt that if that fight goes one more round it was over because (Gaethje) was breaking him.

“We got stopped, but again, that’s our purpose. I really feel like if we went to a decision in that fight and he lost a decision, that would have killed Gaethje because he’s a big believer that, ‘I don’t want a decision. I don’t even want to win a decision. Someone is going out,’ and that’s what makes him spectacular.”

Up next, Gaethje is booked to take on fellow contender Dustin Poirier at UFC on FOX 29, April 14th.