Justin Gaethje is not called ‘The Highlight’ for nothing.
Nearly a year removed from his last appearance in the Octagon, Gaethje steps back into the main event spotlight for an interim lightweight title fight against British sensation Paddy Pimblett.
With 14 fights and nearly a decade of experience under the UFC banner, Gaethje has become one of the promotion’s beloved athletes thanks to his hard-hitting fighting style that always leaves fans on the edge of their seats.
Discussing the former interim titleholder’s evolution as a fighter, famed coach Trevor Whitman revealed how he helped turn Gaethje from an attacking-only fighter to a future Hall of Famer.
“Justin has grown tremendously as a fighter,” Whitman said of Gaethje UFC 324 countdown. “He’s gotten a lot smarter and smarter. When his goal was, ‘I want the most exciting fighter out there,’ he lived by that. His best defense was a non-stop offensive attack. Then he wanted to go title hunting and we had to adapt to what his goal was.”
“Every time I ask him his goal now, it’s, ‘I’m going to be a champion, but I’m going to make sure that if anyone pays for an event, they’ll remember my fight.’ He has this reckless, forlorn approach where he is tempered with intelligence and technique. My athletes, they are my life, they are my family. It’s been a fun journey and the fighting world is a rollercoaster, but I would never change it.”
Justin Gaethje ready to pull out all the stops in ‘Last Hurrah’
Gaethje echoed a similar sentiment, suggesting that “The Highlight” of old could appear as he makes another run at undisputed glory.
“What really separated me from the other high-level fighters in the beginning was my willingness to take risks,” Gaethje said. “I knew this was the journey I had to take. My best defense is a non-stop offensive attack. I am one of the absolute masters of taking your legs away. I love the chaos. I throw myself into the fire. Now I am fighting for the championship. I am going for the title one more time. This is my last hurray and I would like nothing more than to finish this exactly the way I want it.”
Gaethje already knows a thing or two about capturing interim gold, handily defeating Tony Ferguson at UFC 249 to take home the interim lightweight division title in 2020. Unfortunately, Gaethje was unable to secure an undisputed title win against Khabib Nurmagomedov five months later.
If Gaethje picks up a big win over Pimblett on January 24, he will be committed to fighting undisputed 155-pound champion Ilia Topuria. But if he loses, he will definitely leave the sport because he has never climbed the top of the mountain.
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