Gaethje: Chandler win was 'a boring fight'

A fight regarded as the best of 2021 was anything but in the eyes of one of the participants.

Justin Gaethje, the former UFC interim lightweight champion, said he wasn't satisfied with the level of entertainment his unanimous decision win over Michael Chandler at UFC 268 in November provided.

"To be completely honest with you, I felt like that was kind of a boring fight when I was in there," Gaethje told BT Sport's Caroline Pearce. "It just makes no sense. It's the first time I've ever wanted to win more than to knock somebody out.

"So, yeah, it was not good. I didn't like it. I want to go back to just wanting to hurt somebody and finish them."

The first round between Gaethje and Chandler was an all-out brawl, but Gaethje took over in the second, dropping Chandler with an uppercut en route to the decision victory.

Gaethje is set to challenge Charles Oliveira for the lightweight title at UFC 274 in May and said he intends to return to his knockout ways against the champion.

"Now that I've won and I got my title shot, I can go back to how it should be," Gaethje said.

Gaethje is 5-1 over his last six bouts, with his lone loss coming in a title fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov in October 2020. His victory over Chandler was the only fight in that stretch that went the distance.