“When the dust settled from UFC on Fox 29 and the crowds vacated the Gila River Arena on Saturday in Glendale, Arizona, the main event between Justin Gaethje and Dustin Poirer was easy to mythologize. It was the type of fight that warranted clichés without any facetiousness or eye rolling. They left everything in the cage; they were fighting in a phone booth; they were warriors. It was the type of fight that made the lyrics to “Face the Pain” feel like a Homeric poem.
The fight was undeniably epic. It was Gaethje’s third appearance in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, each of which has been shortlisted for “Fight of the Year.” His promotional debut against Michael Johnson last July was the consensus pick across every major MMA web site, and his December bout against Eddie Alvarez was close behind. Although there are plenty more fights to be fought in 2018, expect to see this one popping up at the end of the year.
Yet in an alternate dimension, we may have never had the chance to see any of these fights…”