UFC 254 scorecards reveal Justin Gaethje was WINNING the fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov before submitting to the MMA icon

Khabib Nurmagomedov bowed out of MMA in style on Saturday night with a stunning second round stoppage of Justin Gaethje.
The Eagle announced his retirement from the sport immediately after the victory saying he did not want to compete in the octagon without his father by his side.

The actual contest with Gaethje was a very intriguing one. At the beginning of the first round, it was certainly a feeling out process.

As the first five minutes eroded away, Khabib began to put the pressure on his opponent as the Russian famously always does.

Gaethje, however, was meeting The Eagle with a series of leg kicks and counter strikes that certainly registered on the unbeaten champion.

However, right at the end of the first round, Khabib secured a double-leg takedown and immediately went for the armbar.
Gaethje was saved by the buzzer, but it turns out two of the judges awarded Gaethje the round.

Judges Ben Cartlidge and Sal D’Amato both scored the round 10-9 to Gaethje while Derek Cleary scored it 10-9 to Nurmagomedov.

Khabib stood with Gaethje and certainly landed enough strikes that, combined with a takedown, should be enough to secure the round.

However, Gaethje did land perhaps the more meaningful strikes and his work on Khabib’s legs did force his opponent to get some ice on them during the break at the end of round one. It’s possible that the judges felt that Gaethje did the more meaningful work, but it’s still widely disputed how much a takedown is worth universally.

Gaethje managed to get a decent shot off to start round two but after Khabib got him down just seconds later and smoothly transitioned into a full mount, the writing was on the wall for Gaethje.

Not too many guys can say they scored a round over Khabib but Gaethje showed that he may have been on the right path. Still, it’s a lot to ask to evade Khabib’s takedowns for five rounds and eventually he met the demise of 28 others before him.