Justin Gaethje sends support to ‘gangster’ Karolina Kowalkiewicz following tough loss at UFC Auckland

Justin Gaethje has sent a message of support to Karolina Kowalkiewicz following her tough loss this past weekend at UFC Auckland.

The Auckland card at Spark Arena certainly made headlines for a variety of reasons and while many of those came from the main event, there’s also a lot to be said for the rest of the card. One of the biggest stories coming out of the event was Kowalkiewicz’s loss to Yan Xiaonan via unanimous decision, mainly due to the injuries she sustained.

After Kowalkiewicz reflected on her issues on social media, which included posting up an x-ray showing what happened to her eye, many fighters were quick to send their best wishes — including Justin Gaethje.

https://twitter.com/Justin_Gaethje/status/1232104388597993472

“Rest up,” Gaethje wrote on Twitter. “You are a gangster.”

Many fans are now expecting Kowalkiewicz to step away from the Octagon for a while, and after four straight losses and six defeats in her last eight, some have suggested she should make the jump over to Bellator or a different promotion.

Gaethje is someone who knows what it means to be given a setback, with “The Highlight” suffering two fairly notable back-to-back stoppage defeats at the hands of Eddie Alvarez and Dustin Poirier back in late 2017 and early 2018. Ever since then he’s been on an absolute tear with three straight finishes to his name against James Vick, Edson Barboza and Donald Cerrone.

While Gaethje is being heavily linked with a fight against Conor McGregor in the summer, Kowalkiewicz probably doesn’t really know where to turn next. Once upon a time it seemed as if she had the potential to be champion but after going through so many trials and tribulations, perhaps she needs to reassess what happens next with her career.

One promotion that falls under the category of “different” is none other than KSW who, ironically, have an event coming up in her hometown of Lodz, although she obviously wouldn’t be able to compete that soon.

In addition to going 5-0 in KSW, she was also able to win the KSW Flyweight Championship.

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 2/24/2020.