After back-to-back Stanley Cup championships for the Tampa Bay Lightning, coach Jon Cooper still couldn’t believe he was uttering these words:

“We’re going for three.”

The last time an NHL team won three straight Stanley Cups was from 1981-83, as part of the New York Islanders‘ run of four straight championships.

“‘We’re going for three.’ To say that out loud is kind of crazy,” Cooper told ESPN, before his team’s first-round playoff series against the Toronto Maple Leafs, currently tied 1-1. “You don’t get these chances often. They don’t come around. It’s like we’ve seen the top of the mountain. Let’s keep going for more.”

The chance to three-peat has only come around five times since the Islanders’ run, with the Edmonton Oilers and Pittsburgh Penguins going back-to-back twice and the Detroit Red Wings winning two in a row once. All failed to make it a hat trick.

If the Lightning win a third straight Cup, they cement themselves as a dynasty. If they fall short? Hockey Hall of Famer Mark Messier said that’s a special kind of pain.

“It was crushing. It was horrible. It was one of the worst experiences of our careers to be honest with you,” Messier said of the Oilers’ second-round loss to the Calgary Flames in 1986, which snapped their run of two straight Cups.

“When you win two in a row, it feels like the Cup belongs to you. To see someone else parade around the ice was not very pleasant.”

Messier had another back-to-back run with Edmonton, winning Cups in 1987 and 1988. Hockey Hall of Famer Larry Murphy also had two shots at a three-peat in the 1990s, with the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Detroit Red Wings. But it was that loss for the Penguins in 1993 — in the second round against the Islanders — that still haunts him.

“It was the most disappointing season in my career, without a doubt,” he said.

Aaron Ward was a defenseman for that Red Wings team when it won back-to-back Stanley Cups in 1997 and 1998, before losing in the second round in 1999 to their archrivals, the Colorado Avalanche.

“I don’t know if it’s any better to get eliminated in the Stanley Cup [Final], but to get eliminated in the second round … that’s pulling out your driver and not getting it past the novice tees,” he said.

As the Lightning push for the three-peat in the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs, they’re discovering how hard the path gets during the third time around. Those who attempted the three-peat, but fell short, can relate.

‘We felt confident’

The Oilers might have had a three-peat, and limited the Islanders to just three Cups, had they won the 1983 Stanley Cup Final against New York. But they weren’t quite ready yet and were swept by the Isles for the latter’s Cup No. 4.

Instead, the Oilers prevented the Islanders from lifting a fifth straight Stanley Cup by beating them 4-1 in the 1984 Final, starting their own run of two straight championships — and getting them to start thinking dynasty.

“Our best chance was after we won in 1985,” said Messier, now a commentator with ESPN. “In 1986, we still had Wayne [Gretzky]. Our team was still positioned to win. We didn’t feel tired. We felt confident.”

Edmonton looked unbeatable in 1986. The Oilers had a .744 points percentage in the standings, best in the NHL. They averaged 5.33 goals scored per game — it was said at their peak in the 1980s, the Oilers would defeat their opponents before stepping on the ice through sheer offensive intimidation.

They demolished the Vancouver Canucks in three straight games in the first round of the playoffs. Then they met Calgary in the Battle of Alberta, and lost in a Game 7 that featured a monumental gaffe by defenseman Steve Smith, who banked a pass off goalie Grant Fuhr‘s leg to give the Flames a goal, the third-period lead and the win.

“We felt like we let one slip away in 1986. But we had a healthy respect for them. And a healthy dislike,” Messier said. “A lot of people would say that we got too complacent, but I don’t think we did. Calgary was a really great team that year. It came down to two really good teams and we didn’t play as well as we had to play.”

Messier still laments that missed opportunity.

“Did we have a good enough team to win? Yeah, we did. Did we win it? No. So it’s hard to say that we should have won it, because we didn’t,” he said.

The Oilers composed themselves and won two straight Stanley Cups again in 1987 and 1988. But in 1989, it was a transitional season for Edmonton. Paul Coffey had been traded to Pittsburgh during the 1987-88 season. Gretzky became the face of the Los Angeles Kings after The Trade in summer of 1988.

“It was a different team,” Messier noted of the 1989 Oilers.

The Lightning, for the most part, are not a different team this season. Messier expected big things from the Lightning in the playoffs.

“When I look at Tampa this year … you know, you can talk yourself into anything you want. If you’re physically or mentally tired, you can talk yourself into feeling great,” said Messier. “I’m pretty bullish on their team. They’ve solidified that bottom six a little bit better. With Andrei Vasilevskiy in net, they’re not going to be an easy out.”

‘When it comes too easy, bad habits creep in’

The core was solid for the 1990-91 Pittsburgh Penguins, when they won the franchise’s first Stanley Cup: Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, Ron Francis, Mark Recchi, Joe Mullen, Coffey and Murphy are all Hall of Famers.

The core was still solid for 1991-92 Stanley Cup champion Penguins, although Recchi had been traded for defenseman Kjell Samuelsson, forward Rick Tocchet and goalie Ken Wregget; Coffey had been moved to the Kings; and Scotty Bowman took over for Bob Johnson behind the bench.

In 1992-93, many outside the team were expecting a Penguins dynasty, although they were trying to tamper those expectations.

“It was similar to the previous season. There wasn’t a lot of talk about the big picture. It was just about trying to win that year,” said Murphy. “There was a sense that Mario’s here, so our chances are even better. And then it turned out that wasn’t the case.”

Lemieux missed a quarter of the season due to Hodgkin’s lymphoma, but returned to have the Penguins rolling into the playoffs. They beat the New Jersey Devils, 4-1, in the first round. But then the Islanders shocked them in Game 7, on David Volek‘s series-winning goal at 5:16 of overtime.

“Things were moving along nicely. But then we run into the Islanders, and it’s all for naught,” recalled Murphy. “It was just a sense of huge disappointment. The opportunity doesn’t present itself every season.”

His theory behind the Penguins falling short of the three-peat?

“What hurt us is that it came too easy at the end of the season. If we had struggled going into the playoffs, I think we would have fared better,” he said. “And when it comes too easy, then bad habits creep in, and that’s what happened that year.”

Murphy would get another chance at a three-peat with the Red Wings after they won in 1997 and 1998.

“Right place at the right time,” he joked.

The Red Wings swept the Flyers for the 1997 Stanley Cup. But the dynamic changed dramatically in 1998, according to Murphy. After the Cup celebration, a limo containing defensemen Vladimir Konstantinov and Slava Fetisov hit a tree. Konstantinov spent several weeks in a coma. His hockey career ended due to paralysis suffered in the accident.

Murphy said having Konstantinov around the team, including in their Stanley Cup celebration in 1998, was an inspiration to win back-to-back Cups.

“It definitely gave us motivation. To win it for Vladdy,” he said.

“Winning that first one, there’s that drive to win it for the first time. The second time, it’s a continuation. It’s a different sort of motivation. The third is like, ‘We know what it’s like to win the Cup. Let’s do it again.'”

But the run would stop at two Cups for the Red Wings.

‘Why wouldn’t we be able to do it again?’

Aaron Ward remembers the dynasty talk for those Red Wings.

“That was what our media was talking about. The Detroit News and Detroit Free Press, at the time, were always talking about whether it was going to be a dynasty. And there was a plan in place to definitely win a third and maybe even challenge for a fourth,” he said.

The fans loved it. Coach Scotty Bowman did not.

“It would frustrate Scotty. He wants to control the message. He doesn’t want anyone on his team thinking about any f—ing dynasty,” said Ward.

The former NHL defenseman knows what the Lightning are going through this season. Ward noted that Tampa didn’t play its sharpest hockey in the regular season, despite amassing 108 points.

He watched as Tampa Bay added Brandon Hagel and Nick Paul at the trade deadline — and remembered the 1998-99 Red Wings.

“From what I remember of the 1998-99 season was this feeling of just getting through to the trade deadline. Get yourself well-positioned. Inevitably, the organization was going to go out and get key pieces. They’ve done it in previous years. Remember, there was no salary cap [at that time],” he said.

At the trade deadline in 1999, the Red Wings acquired defenseman Chris Chelios from the Chicago Blackhawks, forward Wendel Clark from the Tampa Bay Lightning and Ulf Samuelsson from the New York Rangers.

“So it played out exactly as we thought. [GM] Kenny [Holland] would make major acquisitions. When those three guys came in, I was like ‘Chalk it up, we’ve got another Stanley Cup here,'” said Ward. “When you’ve won it two years in a row, the feeling was that you had to maintain enough focus to get to the playoffs and then in the playoffs, that’s where the war begins. We’ve proven ourselves capable in two previous years, why wouldn’t be able to do it again?”

The Red Wings finished first in the Central Division with 93 points, which was the third most in the Western Conference. They swept the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in the first round, outscoring them 17-7. But then they met the Colorado Avalanche for the next chapter of their storied feud — the Avs eliminated the Wings en route to the Stanley Cup in 1996, and the Wings did the same to the Avs in 1997.

Detroit won the first two games in Denver. The Avalanche roared back to win four straight and eliminate the Red Wings in six games.

“The weird part from that one was … we weren’t complacent, but we didn’t have an answer,” said Ward. “Because we acquired those guys and we had the depth that we had, we felt pretty confident. Something about that series just didn’t work for us. Colorado seemed to have an answer, in the same way we had the answer in 1996-97. It all went across the net. They were in control. We just couldn’t do it.”

The players were left wondering why what used to work to championship perfection no longer did. “We were still playing left wing lock. We were still playing the Scotty Bowman system,” said Ward. “Maybe that system had expired. Maybe they figured something out. But we were having trouble defensively against the Colorado Avalanche.”

Ward said to not complete the three-peat was a “massive frustration” for the Red Wings.

“In the two previous years, you’ve proven to yourself that you know what it takes. It’s in your back pocket. It’s almost like a cheat sheet that you can consult. You’ve encountered every possible type of adversity that can be thrown at you,” he said. “The immediate reaction was a high level of frustration.”

Will the Tampa Bay Lightning feel the same thing before the end of June?

‘Don’t squander an opportunity’

The Lightning’s Stanley Cup wins in 2020 and 2021 came in truncated seasons with untraditional postseason formats. While no one is saying there should be an asterisk next to either of them, the Lightning are trying to win a third straight chalice in an 82-game season with a compressed schedule.

While other three-peaters have played more games, none have had to win during the unique tensions of playing through a global pandemic, which the Lightning have.

“The situation with COVID, the disruptions of the seasons and the shorter seasons, you’re dealing with something that’s never been dealt with before. They’re a deep team. Last year, they were fortunate with the salary cap situation,” Murphy said, in reference to the Lightning getting star Nikita Kucherov back for the playoffs after spending the entire season on long-term injured reserve. “It’s an experienced team that, when you watch them play, they just know how to do it.”

Messier has been impressed with all the teams that approached dynasty status in the salary cap era. Along with the Lightning, the Penguins won back-to-back Cups in 2016 and 2017. The Chicago Blackhawks didn’t win back-to-back Cups, but they did win three Stanley Cups in six seasons (2010, 2013, 2015).

But due to the salary cap, the 2010 Blackhawks had to jettison a good portion of their supporting cast.

“It’s a lot harder now. You’ve really gotta tip your cap to Pittsburgh and Chicago for winning three and Tampa Bay winning two now,” said Messier. “It’s hard to keep a core together. And then you have to support them, because a core alone won’t get a Stanley Cup done.”

It also takes patience. The Lightning lost in the Stanley Cup Final in 2015, and the conference finals in 2016 and 2018. Then came the critical moment: Getting swept by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the first round of the playoffs in 2019, after a 128-point regular season.

Then came the back-to-back Cups.

“After 2019, I was a little skeptical, I’ll tell you that. But we kept the band together. We kept the faith,” Cooper said. “To be in this position, it takes a lot of good players. It takes a staff. It takes the right management positions. It takes an owner. They put us in a position where we can make the playoffs every year. But you’re not going to win every year, we understand that. We get a chance to take a swing for the fence, we’re going to do that.”

It’s a mighty big swing to try to win three straight Stanley Cups. Others have tried to do it since the Islanders’ dynasty in the early 1980s, and all have failed.

What would Larry Murphy, who nearly pulled the three-peat with two franchises, say to the Lightning today?

“I would say to them as I would say to any other team in any other playoff: Don’t squander an opportunity. You want to feel like at the end of it that you didn’t leave anything on the table,” he said. “But everything is easier said than done. They might want it just as much as the last two seasons, but for whatever reason, it won’t happen for them.”

Manchester City have created plenty of history under Pep Guardiola, but they may now be heading for the ignominy of adding their name to the list of sport’s biggest chokers. To make matters worse, City’s failings could fast-track Liverpool‘s path to an unprecedented quadruple.

This week has reminded us that nothing is certain in football until the final whistle. Real Madrid‘s incredible comeback against City in the Champions League semifinal second leg, when they scored twice in stoppage time to take the game to extra time and then won 3-1 (6-5 on aggregate) came just 24 hours after Liverpool had stared their own humiliation in the face by surrendering a 2-0 first-leg lead against Villarreal at half-time before going on to win 3-2 (5-2 on aggregate) in Paris later this month.

At 89 minutes in the Santiago Bernabeu, City were heading to the final and still on course for a Premier League/Champions League double. But now, they face Newcastle at the Etihad on Sunday knowing they could end the season with nothing if they fail to win all four remaining league games to keep Liverpool at bay.

City are only one point ahead currently, but they had moved 12 points clear of Liverpool at the top of the Premier League following a 2-0 home win against Brentford on Feb. 9. Jurgen Klopp’s team had two games in hand, but nonetheless, City held a significant lead, so they’ve not only blown it in the Bernabeu. Losing such a lead in the Premier League would be the worst collapse since Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United gifted Man City the title in 2012, despite holding an eight-point lead with six games to play.

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There is, of course, the possibility that Liverpool could also fall short this season and end up lifting just the Carabao Cup, which they won by beating Chelsea 11-10 on penalties after a 0-0 draw in February, despite all the talk of an unprecedented four-trophy campaign. Chelsea could avenge that Wembley defeat by winning the FA Cup final vs. Liverpool on May 14. City could steady themselves to walk away with the league title, while nobody would risk dismissing Madrid’s prospects of winning a 14th Champions League at Stade de France on May 28.

But football is all about momentum, and Liverpool have it in abundance. City have lost theirs, and Liverpool will take additional strength from the implosion being endured by Guardiola and his players. While City crumbled against Madrid, Liverpool stiffened their resolve to snuff out Villarreal’s comeback in Estadio de la Ceramica. Liverpool’s big-game players rose to the occasion when they had to against Unai Emery’s side, but just when City needed a match-winning performance from Kevin De Bruyne, the midfielder was so anonymous that he was substituted in the closing stages.

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Alejandro Moreno details how Luis Diaz’s impact led Liverpool to a second-half comeback over Villarreal.

Recent results and performances suggest City are clinging on with their fingertips at the same time as Liverpool seem to be getting stronger and more determined. One theory is that Klopp’s team have a stronger mentality because they have been forged in adversity. Before it all clicked at Anfield, Klopp’s side lost a Europa League final against Sevilla, a Carabao Cup final against City, a Champions League final against Madrid in Kyiv and, unforgettably, they missed out on the league title to City in 2019 despite losing just one game and amassing 97 points.

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Liverpool had to learn how to bounce back from setbacks, and their collective strength and belief grew from those near-misses. But while City have had plenty of bad nights in the Champions League, they have not been through the same hard knocks as Liverpool. Domestically, it has all seemed too easy for City at times, with eight major trophies in England since Guardiola took charge in 2016. They have also achieved a domestic Treble in that time.

Disappointments have been few and far between, largely restricted to the Champions League, but they have not really impacted City’s domestic ambitions. However, this week’s elimination is on a different scale to anything they have experienced before.

Suddenly, a routine run of Premier League fixtures to clinch the title now looks like the final stages of climbing a mountain. Newcastle (one of the league’s in-form teams) at home, with heavy minds and legs after Madrid, will be a test of nerve as well as physical endurance, while next Wednesday’s trip to eighth-place Wolves is another game that will pose big questions of Guardiola and his players.

In both games, City play a day after Liverpool, so could find themselves in second place needing to win to reclaim top spot, which only adds more pressure.

Then comes a game at Europe-chasing West Ham on May 15, followed by the season finale at home to Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa. Just imagine the tension at the Etihad that day if Gerrard has the chance to help his old club Liverpool by denying City a win they may need to clinch the title.

City are still favourites to win the Premier League because they’re a point clear and there are only four games left in which Liverpool could catch them. But this City team knows it has blown one competition and is halfway to blowing another, so the fear of failure could creep into the club’s psyche. It’s time for Guardiola and his players to get off the canvas and find some spirit to fight back.

Chelsea wanted Erling Haaland amid doubts over Romelu Lukaku’s future — ESPN’s Insider Notebook has the latest. PLUS: Ten Hag keen on rising French striker.

Jump to: Ten Hag keen on Ekitike | Rangnick’s Hannibal snub explained | Qatar boats to cope with World Cup demand

Sanctions halt Chelsea’s Haaland pursuit

Chelsea are frustrated that restrictions arising from the sanctions against owner Roman Abramovich halted their pursuit of Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund, sources told ESPN.

The Blues are unable to sign players as per the special licence granted to continue fulfilling fixtures following Abramovich’s identification as a key figure with ties to Russia President Vladimir Putin amid the ongoing war in Ukraine.

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Head coach Thomas Tuchel admitted last week that in a normal season, “we would have some targets and we would have for sure contacted some players and found out about their situations [but] our hands are tied.”

Sources told ESPN that one of the options senior figures at the club wanted to discuss was Haaland. Chelsea looked at the 21-year-old last summer prior to signing Romelu Lukaku, only to be told by Dortmund they would retain his services for another year.

Lukaku’s first season back at Stamford Bridge has been a huge disappointment and the Belgium international is expected to discuss his future once Chelsea’s ownership situation is resolved. It is possible Lukaku would be allowed to leave should Chelsea recoup a significant amount of the €115 million they paid Inter Milan, but a replacement needs to be identified and by the time the club can act, they may be too late to sound Haaland out.

There is a strong expectation that Manchester City will land the Norway striker, largely because they have been laying the foundations of a deal for several weeks. But City will not break their wage structure to land Haaland, sources told ESPN. The framework of the deal — including agent fees — is already in place and City have until June to formally trigger the €75m release clause in Haaland’s contract at Borussia Dortmund.

Haaland is set to become one of the top earners at the Etihad Stadium, but the club have been clear during talks with Haaland’s representatives they will not break the bank. Sources told ESPN that negotiations over his salary have not gone beyond the level agreed with Kevin De Bruyne when the Belgian midfielder signed his latest extension in April 2021, worth around £375,000 a week.

Chelsea wanted to see whether Haaland was interested in a move to west London and perhaps even discussed contract terms but the ownership situation continues to drag on. A consortium led by Los Angeles Dodgers owner Todd Boehly is the preferred bidder but talks are ongoing between merchant bank Raine Group, Chelsea and the U.K government over the finer points of an agreement.

British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe is waiting with a rival bid while the UK government have remained set on May 31 as a deadline for completion. The Premier League transfer window opens on June 10. — James Olley and Rob Dawson

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Gab & Juls discuss reports suggesting that Erling Haaland is edging closer to a move to Manchester City.

Ten Hag keen on Ekitike but Bayern, Arsenal, Newcastle lurking

Manchester United have made an enquiry over Reims striker Hugo Ekitike, sources told ESPN, but Bayern Munich are also in the running for the exciting teenager.

Sources added that Newcastle, who almost signed Ekitike in January, as well as Arsenal are also keen on the 19-year-old, who has scored nine goals in 22 appearances so far this season, with 14 appearances coming from the start. Sources said Ekitike would be available for around €15m.

Manchester United interim manager Ralf Rangnick has said the club need two strikers in the transfer window as well as needing to target rising stars rather than established names.

Ekitike fits the bill in that regard and sources said an approach has been made to the player’s representatives to find out his plans for next season. Arsenal are also in need of a striker with Mikel Arteta likely to lose Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah on free transfers this summer while Bayern are looking to the future with Robert Lewandowski, 33, out of contract at the end of next season.

It promises to be a summer of change at Old Trafford with Paul Pogba, Juan Mata, Nemanja Matic, Jesse Lingard and Edinson Cavani among those set to leave, with two key scouts also departing the club in addition to director of football negotiations Matt Judge resigning recently.

New manager Erik ten Hag will be presented with a list of targets the club have been working on ahead of his arrival and the incoming manager will have power of veto over what is proposed, as well as being able to put forward his own names for consideration. Ten Hag is combining his present role as coach of Ajax — who are top of the Eredivisie by four points with three games remaining — as well as laying the groundwork for when he officially moves to United, but has asked the Premier League club for space while he looks to seal a third successive league title.

– ESPN’s Insider Notebook: Ten Hag tells United: Leave me alone!

Sources added that while multiple sides are in the mix for Ekitike as they believe he has huge potential, he has yet to make a decision on where he wants to move to next. — Julien Laurens

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Mark Ogden tears into Ralf Rangnick’s time in charge of Manchester United after being named Austria manager.

Rangnick’s Hannibal snub explained

Hannibal Mejbri‘s cameo in the 4-0 defeat to Liverpool went down well with Manchester United fans and pundit Gary Neville, but sources told ESPN that interim manager Ralf Rangnick was not impressed.

The 19-year-old came on for the final six minutes at Anfield in April and picked up a yellow card after making a number of heavy challenges.

Former United captain Neville said he was “proud” of Hannibal for “making his presence felt” on an otherwise humiliating night for United but Rangnick did not share his view. Sources told ESPN that Hannibal was reprimanded by Rangnick for a reckless and erratic performance and punished the Tunisia international with a return to the under-23 team.

Hannibal has been omitted from the matchday squad since the defeat to Liverpool, with youngsters Alejandro Garnacho and Alvaro Fernandez named on the bench for the 3-0 win over Brentford on Monday. — Rob Dawson

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Futbol Americas reacts to England’s newspaper headlines after being drawn with the USMNT in Group B.

Don’t go overboard! Boat emerges as option for Qatar World Cup stay

The lack of accommodation at the World Cup in Qatar is prompting some creative solutions with friends and family of the England squad expected to share a boat permanently moored in the Gulf state, sources told ESPN.

Estimates put the number of visitors for the tournament across November and December as high as 1.2 million people, with only around 130,000 rooms available.

Although VIPs can still expect a degree of preferential treatment, the battle to secure accommodation for the tournament has extended to those connected to the 32 competing teams. Sources told ESPN that England’s wives, girlfriends and friends will take up an allocation of around 25% capacity on a boat also hosting FIFA delegates, who will comprise 50%. The remainder will be made up of friends and family from other nations, with two other European nations thought to be among those involved in talks.

One source suggested the boat will be stationed on The Pearl, an artificial island in Doha boasting luxury shopping, private beaches and restaurants.

Some family members are understood to have looked at staying in Dubai and flying into Qatar for the matches and on days when the families are given access to the players, but the boat has emerged as an option to reduce travelling.

England’s team base has not been publicly confirmed but sources said they will stay at the Souq Al Wakra hotel, located to the south of Doha. — James Olley

Eddie Alvarez looked like he was holding a golf ball in his mouth, and his right cheek was comically swollen. To compound matters, Alvarez’s left leg was barely mobile due to numerous hard kicks to it.

In Detroit, the former UFC lightweight champion was embroiled in the third round of a back-and-forth barnburner with Justin Gaethje at UFC 218 on Dec. 2, 2017. Neither man was giving an inch. Near the middle of the final round, Alvarez pulled Gaethje into a clinch, pushed his head down and landed some short punches to Gaethje’s face.

“I knew he was exhausted; he knew I was,” Alvarez told ESPN. “So, we would get in a clinch and we’d start talking to each other. But I was punching him. … I was telling him to ‘eat that.’ I’m like ‘eat this, eat that.’ And then, he in return, said to me, ‘I love it.'”

Shortly afterward, Alvarez landed a knee in a clinch that knocked Gaethje out, escaping with a victory in a Fight of the Night performance for both. For Alvarez, Gaethje’s verbal response to him that night was a testament to his never-back-down attitude — his unbridled passion for fighting itself, perhaps even more than winning.

“We were still fighting as hard as we could,” Alvarez said. “I was trying to kind of impose my will. He’s almost like, ‘F— you, I like it — keep doing it.'”

Gaethje has ridden that unbreakable mentality to a UFC lightweight title shot against Charles Oliveira at UFC 274 on Saturday in Phoenix, not far from his hometown of Safford, Arizona. He has won five of his past six fights and is considered one of the most exciting MMA fighters in the world. Gaethje, 33, has won $50,000 fight night bonuses nine times in nine UFC fights. Six times, he has won Fight of the Night.

Gaethje’s nickname is “The Highlight,” but those who have been in the cage with him differ on what makes him unique. Is it his iron-clad chin? His booming leg kicks? Or maybe it’s just an unusual thirst for violence?

ESPN spoke with several of Gaethje’s former opponents to find out exactly what separates him from others in the UFC’s stacked lightweight division.

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Editor’s note: Answers have been edited for clarity and brevity.

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Justin Gaethje and Michael Chandler kick off the UFC 268 main card with an incredible three-round battle.

Lost to Gaethje via unanimous decision at UFC 268 on Nov. 6, 2021 — Watch this fight on ESPN+)

He is a heck of a competitor. I knew that. He’s got the cardio, and he’s got the finishing aspect with every punch he lands. He’s got the toughness to boot. I knew I was in for the fight of my life that night. I think I got caught up in the moment when I landed those first couple of punches and hurt him in the first round. I thought I was going to be able to knock him out. I thought I would be able to finish him, which very few guys have been able to do.

Justin Gaethje does a really good job of his stance — he’s always in a very good position, and he bends over and ducks his head and throws kind of wild, overhand looping punches at times. A lot of times, they’re technical. Often, they’re kind of bent-down overhands, which kept his legs away from me, so there wasn’t a time to shoot for a takedown. I thought the easiest path to victory was to go out there and take him down and beat him on the ground. But the opportunity really didn’t present itself, and he had great defense when it did. He’s got great reactions.

He’s a complete fighter. Everybody thinks he’s a brawler. With his fight style and willingness and desire to engage into those crazy exchanges, everybody thinks that he’s just a brawler. He’s a lot more technical than many people give him credit for. And a lot of that is his will to compete, but also coach Trevor Wittman is a genius inside the lab there in Colorado.

The best fights for the fans are the ones where someone will ask me what I remember, and I’m saying I don’t remember a thing about the fight. What I remember most is the moment we shared after the fight. I think the coolest moment was when I grabbed his face. I put my arms around him. We were hugging each other. And I said, “Dude, I knew you didn’t hate me. We’re the same exact person.”

He said a couple of things like I have a punchable face, and he couldn’t wait to punch me. Of course, that’s part of his pre-fight. Gotta get into the right state of mind to fight a guy. I was like, “Dude. I knew you didn’t mean those things. We’re cut from the same cloth. We are literally as close to the exact same person as athletes as you could find.” Sometimes that ends up as a boring fight. And sometimes, you can find yourself in a solidified peg in mixed martial arts history. And that’s where we were at Madison Square Garden. It was really cool.

He got his hand raised. Then, back in the medical tents, I overheard him because he talks pretty loud — we all talk pretty loud after fights, your adrenaline is still coming down. He’s like, “My leg, man! My leg is all jacked up! Those leg kicks.” I pulled the curtain and was like, “Yo, dude, you’re telling me that I hurt the best leg kicker in the game? I hurt his leg with my leg kicks?” He was like, “Yeah, dude, I didn’t expect you to throw those leg kicks.” It was some great moments that the people might never see behind closed doors, back behind the curtains.

Eddie Alvarez, ONE Championship lightweight

Defeated Gaethje via third-round knockout at UFC 218 on Dec. 2, 2017

The way he steps in the pocket and commits to his power and the things he does, you only do that if you have an undying belief and faith in your game plan, in your ability. And the way he fights, people call it reckless abandon. But it’s not. It’s just an undying faith and belief in what he’s doing and what coach Trevor Wittman put together against opponents.

It’s unique, and you have to be prepared for it. If you’re not, you’ll find yourself in the middle of the fight — seven minutes into the fight — in the middle of a tornado that you’re not prepared for. That’s the best way I can describe it. What seems to be chaos, that’s his home. That’s where he feels comfortable. And he brings other fighters into that chaos, and they’re not used to it. They’re not prepared for it. That’s where he lives.

Most fighters need to go into the fight knowing they will get their tires flattened. That’s the kind of commitment he has to leg kicks. He’s almost like, “I’m going to trade a bishop for a queen.” He considers his kick a queen and anything you’re going to throw at him a bishop. He’s willing to make that trade all day long. If you’re going to try to damage him, you’re not going to hurt him without giving away your leg. So, 100% he’s going to commit to that. And he doesn’t look at it as a short-term investment. It’s long-term for him. He’s OK with trading a leg kick for a punch to the head, as long as he knows you can’t walk anymore by the eighth minute or ninth minute of the fight.

It’s unique because most fighters don’t want to take any damage. Justin Gaethje almost submits and says, “I will take damage and I’m fine with it. But I’m going to inflict a lot more in return.” It’s a special mentality, and you need to be ready for it before you engage in a fight with him.

It’s not so much Gaethje’s chin. It’s like his spirit. His spirit is much stronger than most. He’ll go deeper than most opponents are willing to go, and you can feel that inside the cage. For most of my training camp for him, it was more of a mental battle with myself — telling myself, “You’re gonna be here, it’s not gonna feel good, it’s not gonna be good. But you need to get comfortable with it.”

If you don’t have your opponents in training go after you in that manner and put yourself in and practice that chaos and that kind of suffering, then it’s all going to be new to you on fight night. It’s not going to be good for you. In preparation for someone like him, your training camp will be uncomfortable, and it’s going to be chaotic.

Luis Palomino, Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship fighter

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Get ready for UFC 274, featuring title defenses from Charles Oliveira and Rose Namajunas, along with the return of Tony Ferguson.

Lost to Gaethje via TKO at WSOF 19 and WSOF 23 in 2015

Gaethje is a whole other animal, man. I think what makes him is the pressure he can push forward. And his ability to sustain that pressure. It’s not only a physical thing — it’s a mental thing, too. His ability to keep a pace the way he does is the number one thing. Then his chin, he can take a bad hit. I hit him hard. I hit the dude with everything. I dropped him, and he dropped me. But man, getting up and recovering the way he recovers is wild. That’s what makes him so special. I hit pretty damn hard. I’ve got some pretty good one-punch knockout power.

I fought him twice within five months. After the first fight, I landed in Miami, and the president of WSOF, Ray Sefo, called me and doubled my contract. And that’s coming off a loss. Because the fight broke the NBC Sports ratings records. It would have been the fight of the year in the world if it wasn’t for Robbie Lawler vs. Rory MacDonald. They stole that one.

I’m a lot more technical today than I was back then. But then, I was more dangerous, and I was wilder. When I would throw a strong combination — whether it involved my low kicks or flying knees — every time I threw that, usually the fight was over. I found myself doing that three or four times in a fight with this dude. And his ability to come back is just ridiculous. Just take that punishment, and the dude just walks forward like a zombie. It’s just not normal.

His leg kicks were awesome. He’s got bony shins. If you look at the first fight, we both walk in, meet in the middle, and do the same technique — we throw a low kick together — his shinbone lands on my ankle. I have pictures of my ankle twice the size of what it is. That was the first thing that happened in the fight. So, I couldn’t put my weight on that leg to check the kicks he was throwing at me. Not only could I not use my weapon, but I couldn’t defend, either. He saw that in the third round and started hurting me there. That was the end of the fight.

It’s not just physical. It’s mental, too. The dude is like, not there. Like mentally, something is wrong with this dude. But then again, he’s there. He’s catching everything, and he’s aware of everything. He gets in a zone, a very destructive zone. He’s like, “No, I’m here to fight. It’s time to destroy something — myself or somebody else.”

Gesias Cavalcante, former Strikeforce and WSOF lightweight

Lost to Gaethje via first-round TKO at WSOF 3 on March 23, 2013

When I fought Gaethje, he was young and reckless. He’s still a little reckless today. Coming into the fight, I was confident in my experience to take him out, especially in the later rounds. He started pretty aggressively at the beginning, throwing everything. I remember thinking, ‘Man, this guy really throws everything with all the power that he has.’ He ended up landing a knee on my forehead that opened a cut and they called the fight.

He had one fight that went five rounds against Tony Ferguson (in May 2020), and I thought Justin is now ready to be a champion. Until then, it was almost like he didn’t care about losing. He was just going all-out. He’s always put in the work and he’s a super nice guy. I loved sharing the cage with him.

Lost to Gaethje via second-round TKO at WSOF 11 on July 5, 2014

I thought that I could hit him and move out of the way. And stick him with hard shots when I timed it. And then I knew he was a good wrestler, but I knew if I could catch him swinging hard, I could take him down and beat him easy on the ground. Not easy, but I had more grappling experience. He was a wrestler at that point and didn’t do much jiu-jitsu.

I started off doing well. I thought I hit him a bunch of times clean. I’ve knocked people out before, probably once or twice. Or in practice. And not on purpose. But you know when you land that shot that knocks someone out. You know what it feels like. And I hit him with those shots about three times. I was looking at him. I was like, “What the hell? What?” He had these eyes like he was a little out of it, but he kept moving forward and fighting. Kept this intense pressure. It was really hard to deal with. To be honest with you, it kind of got the best of me.

I was prepared for him to be tough. But he was next-level tough. There’s no quit in him. I was surprised that he could withstand some of the clean ones I got and just keep moving forward. I thought it was funny, like what the f— is going on? I hit him and was like, OK. I’ll do it again. So, I did it again. Oh, OK. And I did it again. It was like a knee, a head kick and an uppercut. You can beat him, but you’ll never break him.

I don’t think he puts as much pressure on himself to win as others do. I don’t know how bad it would affect him if he lost. Like life would go on, and he’d just have another fight. Fighting someone like that, that feels like they have nothing to lose, is dangerous. I told him [before the fight], “Honestly, I think I’m gonna knock you out.” And he said, “It’s bound to happen sooner or later.” That’s what he told me. “If you were to do it, that would be awesome.” You’re not supposed to say that. He’s a nice guy, a class act.

As soon as they saw each other at the American Airlines Center, Donovan Mitchell made a simple request of Theo Pinson before the Utah Jazz and Dallas Mavericks met in the first round of the NBA’s Western Conference playoffs.

“Theo, shut up, please,” Mitchell told Pinson.

Mitchell is quite familiar with his friend Pinson’s proclivity for running his mouth, having known him since they crossed paths on the AAU circuit. Mitchell had also been subjected to a barrage of trash talk from Pinson and the Mavs’ bench during the Jazz’s two March trips to Dallas.

“Don’t say nothing today,” Mitchell playfully added.

Not a chance. Pinson hardly ever keeps quiet during a Mavericks game.

Pinson is ineligible for the playoffs because he’s on a two-way contract but makes his presence felt as the ringleader of the rowdy Mavs’ bench. He’s on his feet almost all 48 minutes, constantly hyping up his teammates, hollering out coaching points and spewing trash talk in an effort to get in the opponent’s head.

Players who aren’t in the rotation, along with injured guard Tim Hardaway Jr., have joined Pinson, and pride themselves on having the NBA’s most boisterous bench for a Dallas team that is down 0-2 in the conference semifinals to the top-seeded Suns entering Friday’s Game 3 (9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN).

Their jobs are to be “energy-givers,” as Hardway puts it, a blend of assistant coach and antagonist. They’ll call out defensive coverages and reminders from that morning’s film sessions to teammates. And they’ll mercilessly mock opponents’ mistakes, such as when they made a production out of ducking and dodging when Jazz center Rudy Gobert air-balled a free throw.

“Probably more s— talking than coaching,” Pinson says. “We just try to do everything we can to help our teammates. We just want to give ourselves an advantage. We’re causing a problem for the other team, just mentally.

“I don’t see other teams doing what we do.”

Maybe not, but the NBA office sees them. So much so that the league singled out the Dallas bench in its “Points of Education” video sent to teams before the playoffs.

The video includes a clip of the Mavs committing “a violation of the bench decorum guidelines,” showing Pinson, Hardaway and several other bench players jumping and stomping onto the court in celebration after Reggie Bullock blocked a shot in a March 1 road win against the Los Angeles Lakers.

“We’re probably on the floor a little bit too much here and there, but we’ve tamed it back from the regular season,” Pinson says. “We police ourselves over there a lot more than we did in the regular season.”

Pinson scored 48 points in 148 minutes scattered over 19 games for Dallas in the regular season, but the Mavs don’t think it’s a coincidence that they snapped out of a slow start soon after Pinson’s arrival on a hardship 10-day contract.

They consider him an integral part of their success, so much so that coach Jason Kidd was only half-kidding when he called Pinson the team’s MVP in early February.

“He gave us something we didn’t have, and now he has a group over there,” Kidd said before Dallas’ closeout Game 6 win over Utah.

“They’re all into the game from jump ball to the end. Win or lose, those guys are connected and the team is connected.”

Kidd, who was hired in the summer to replace Rick Carlisle, took over a team that had major chemistry concerns. That was reinforced during Luka Doncic‘s news conference in Slovenia after he signed his supermax contract extension. Doncic, fresh off leading Slovenia to a fourth-place finish in its first men’s basketball Olympic run, noted the “amazing chemistry” of his national team.

“I think that led us to winning games,” Doncic said then. “And I think that’s what we need in Dallas.”

And now?

“Our chemistry is way better now than it was at the start of the season,” Doncic said before the start of the second round. “We’re together, and I think it’s improved a lot. You can see it on the court and off the court.”

You can certainly see it on the bench.

The Mavs didn’t know it, but Pinson came along at the right time. He was playing for the Boston Celtics‘ G League team when a COVID-19 outbreak decimated the Mavs’ roster in mid-December. He signed two 10-day hardship deals, instantly infusing the team with positive energy, convincing the coaching staff and front office that they needed to keep Pinson around.

He traveled with the team full-time, which isn’t typical for a two-way player, even when he was sidelined with a broken finger.

“Theo is the best hype man, culture guy, whatever you want to call it in the NBA,” Mavericks sixth man Spencer Dinwiddie, who played with Pinson on the Brooklyn Nets and reunited with him after the trade deadline deal for Kristaps Porzingis, said in March.

“I’ve been in the NBA eight years. I’ve been on, what, five teams or something like that — Theo is the best [teammate].

“I’ll take him on a team any day. The mood is instantly lighter. It’s instantly better. You’re going through some tough times, he’s going to make you laugh. You’re going through some good times, he’s going to make you feel great.”

Hardaway has become Pinson’s hype partner, giving the shooting guard a greater sense of purpose as he recovers from left foot surgery. Hardaway says he is holding out hope he can return during this playoff run, but it’s unlikely, as he is still a few weeks away from beginning to cut.

“The guys allow me to do what I do on the bench right now and be verbal and be supportive. I just try to do the best that I can to stay positive and be relentless in that aspect,” Hardaway says.

“I’m having a great time. That goes with my teammates and Theo being a big part of that. Theo lights up the room, makes sure everybody stays positive, talks trash but in a funny, joking way. But at the same time, he’s serious and wants to win just as much as the five guys on the floor.”

There are times, as the league office’s video reminded with the tsk-tsk tone, that the Mavs have more than five guys on the floor.

“We’re involved all game,” Pinson says. “We’re involved, up, ready, helping our teammates. We’ve seen the importance of it.”