Justin Gaethje, Michael Johnson Thrill in Brawl for the Ages

Over 17 professional fights, Justin Gaethje developed a reputation as a thrilling, all-action fighter. With his habit of throwing maximum effort into every single strike—and his apparent lack of anything resembling defense or strategic thinking—Gaethje went from a complete unknown into a must-see for hardcore fans.

Few beyond the sport's most devoted ever saw Gaethje ply his trade, however. His fights were scintillating but also felt like a waste of talent and maybe brain cells. Gaethje reigned supreme in World Series of Fighting. But we can be honest with each other and agree that a WSOF title is a participation ribbon, and Gaethje's opponents were generally in WSOF because they were not good enough for the UFC or Bellator.           

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Gaethje wasted valuable ticks off his career clock fighting Luis Palomino and Brian Cobb and others like them. When he signed with the UFC in May and was almost immediately booked to face Michael Johnson—which is not the sort of welcome fighters usually get for their UFC debuts—I felt like it was probably too much, that Gaethje would be exposed as an Indie MMA champ who couldn't hang with the big boys.

Gaethje was going from the frying pan to the fire, or more accurately, he was going from a lukewarm pot straight into a raging inferno.

And then Gaethje stepped in the Octagon on Friday night at The Ultimate Fighter 25 finale in Las Vegas and, with a lot of help from Johnson, burned the whole damn place to the ground.

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Judging a fight's historical importance is usually difficult in the moments after its end. Things are just too heated and too recent. But I feel comfortable telling you on this night that Gaethje vs. Johnson was something special and I haven't seen a better fight this year, maybe even in the past few years. Maybe ever.

Gaethje did what he always does, which is to say he immediately abandoned any sort of tactical approach, walked right in front of Johnson and started swinging. Lo and behold, it worked! Gaethje hurt Johnson early in the first round and appeared to be cruising to his first UFC win.

But then we remember Gaethje also always nearly gives away fights he's winning, so I imagine few were shocked when Johnson melted Gaethje with an uppercut and came close to finishing him as the round came to a close.

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But Gaethje, aside from being able to take one hell of a beating, is also quite stubborn. If he was worried about the way the first round ended, you couldn't tell from the look on his face when the second began. A few short minutes later and it was over: Johnson being tended to by his corner and medical officials following a TKO, while Gaethje nearly killed himself with a botched celebratory backflip from the top of the Octagon.

Gaethje's performance was vintage, and he earned two bonuses for it—Fight of the Night and Performance of the Night. He also scored a tweet from Conor McGregor, a man who rarely comments on UFC bouts of any stature:

"I'm a promoter's wet dream," Gaethje said after the bout. And yeah, that's one way of putting it. At least, having a personality with a performance like that will land you in favor with UFC President Dana White.

So Gaethje gets his first UFC win and moves his record to 18-0. That's a big accomplishment. But creating something special like this? It takes two fighters with similar mentalities. Two fighters of similar skill levels. Two fighters who might not care about taking a few shots if it means giving one of their own.

Johnson has every right to claim just as much of this fight as Gaethje. He's going home without the win, and that's disappointing. But he can take solace that he'll forever be a part of UFC lore, and that kind of thing usually means a whole hell of a lot more than just wins and losses.