​’I prayed so much for this’ — Justin Gaethje’s UFC victory speech perfectly captures American spirit

Justin Gaethje put on the performance of a lifetime at the landmark UFC 250 event outside the White House Sunday night, finally capturing the undisputed, lightweight UFC championship belt.Before the fight, Gaethje and his undefeated opponent, Ilia Topuria, both walked out to the UFC Octagon in epic fashion, starting in the Oval Office before making their way to the cage on the White House lawn.’I’m from America. Two hundred fifty years ago, we were way bigger than six-to-one dogs.’A dark and cloudy sky served as the backdrop for the main event — which did not start until well after 12:30 a.m. ET — but once it started, there were only fireworks.Gaethje overcame two significant near-defeat moments during the fight: first during the second round when devastating body shots from Topuria dropped him to the ground, and then a surprise takedown from the champion had Gaethje on the bottom and in trouble in the fourth round as well.However, a mangled Topuria was unable to continue into the fifth, forcing the referee to stop the fight after he had already convinced ringside doctors to allow Topuria to keep fighting after the third round.After the fight, announcer Joe Rogan asked Gaethje: “You have been waiting for this moment your entire career and to win it in such a spectacular fashion in a fight where you were at some points [a] six-to-one underdog. How good does this feel?””Hey, I’m from America. Two hundred fifty years ago, we were way bigger than six-to-one dogs, and look at us thriving now,” Gaethje patriotically replied.The Safford, Arizona, native then immediately thanked all “current, former, and future military service members” for their service before revealing his true motivation for the fight.”All glory to God. I prayed so much for this opportunity to do something legendary. And I know that was absolutely legendary ’cause I cannot even believe it,” Gaethje remarked.RELATED: ‘I had the right papers’: Somali World Cup referee booted from US gets an answer from the White House The 37-year-old then praised his mother’s “Mexican warrior spirit” and his father’s “German, hard-a** thick bones” for giving him the pedigree that saw him overcome abysmal odds. In fact, Gaethje was the only underdog to win a fight on the White House lawn on Sunday night.Gaethje told Rogan that he used an unorthodox approach to get the best out of himself.”I told myself I was going to get embarrassed so that I can go to my most primal place and dig deep. And I had to. That guy had me in trouble,” the fighter explained. “He rocked my chin, smoked my liver, and I stuck in it. And look at my face,” Gaethje laughed, suggesting the lack of damage showed that his skin needs to be studied by scientists.Coming into the fight as only the interim lightweight champion, Gaethje is now undisputed, handing his Georgian opponent his first loss ever.RELATED: Texas AG Ken Paxton threatens Big 12 over possible Texas Tech boycott Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images As reported by MMA Fighting, Gaethje was given two fight bonuses for his performance, which were heavily inflated sums due to sponsorships for the unique event.With a Fight of the Night bonus of $400,000 and a Performance of the Night bonus of $425,000, Gaethje took home $825,000 in extra cash.Heavyweight Ciryl Gane won the other Performance of the Night bonus for his second-round knockout of Alex Pereira to earn $425,000.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!