For a fighter, turning down a potential $25,000 payday seems insane, but at UFC Winnipeg, one fighter appeared to do just that in favor of taunts. At Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg, Gauge Young entered his lightweight bout against Brazilian Thiago Moisés on a one-fight win streak. Moisés established early dominance by successfully taking the Missouri native down twice in six attempts, controlling much of the frame with his grappling expertise.

However, in round two, Young endured the hostile crowd, adjusted his defense, and stuffed later takedown attempts from the Brazilian veteran. He ensured the fight remained on the foot by forcing striking exchanges, though Moisés still landed clean counters. But Young’s volume played a key role here. In the third, Young maintained his momentum, recording a knockdown and outstriking Moisés significantly.

Then, rather than pushing for a decisive knockout and the potential $25K bonus that comes with it, Young appeared content to showboat. This gave Thiago Moisés enough time to recuperate and trade shots with the 25-year-old. The fight ended with a final flurry of tough exchanges from both men, with Young having done just enough to secure a narrow split decision win. The judges scored the bout 29-28, 29-28, 28-29.

This was Young’s third UFC fight, after losing his debut to Evan Elder in April last year. However, ‘Gee Money’ doesn’t appear to have learned humility in his loss. So, after his win, when UFC shared a clip of his showboating antics during the third round, fans quickly flooded the comment section to give him a reality check.

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Gauge Young becomes the center of public hate

One user found Young’s antics shocking. “Was hoping he got knocked out towards the end after seeing that. A chance for a TKO, and you choose cockiness. Shocking,” the user wrote. Young might be banking on becoming popular to land bigger purses. But without highlight reel finishes, that might not happen. 

Another user trashed Young’s skills as a fighter. The user posted: “Dude is like a 100x less skillful MVP. What a clown, finish the fight. Was the only time he even hurt Moises, even though Moises was just a walking punching bag lmao.” Young hasn’t finished a single opponent since entering the UFC.

Someone else branded Young an idiot for missing out on the finish bonus. “What an idiot tho. I’d rather see a finish, and he may have cost himself a bonus u never know. What a retard,” the user commented. The sad part is, even he doesn’t know when he may fight next and get another paycheck.

The next user felt all of Young’s antics amounted to nothing. “Doing all this but not getting a finish is crazy,” the user claimed. He couldn’t get a decisive win even though he is six years younger than Moisés.

Meanwhile, this user had another idea about why Moisés lost the fight. “That idiot didn’t do anything. Moises lost to himself because he was out of breath,” the user commented. This was Moisés’ third loss in his last five fights. 

Clearly, just showboating isn’t enough to earn favor among fans. As a fighter, one must also deliver results, something Gauge Young has failed to do. His next fight will reveal whether he takes the fan criticism to heart or doubles down on the controversial style that defined his narrow victory.