Morning Report | Justin Gaethje takes pride in fending off younger UFC contenders: ‘They’ve tried to get rid of me’

Justin Gaethje isn’t letting anyone else decide when his UFC days are over.

Thirty-two fights into his pro fighting career, Gaethje heads into arguably the biggest opportunity of his career when he faces the undefeated Ilia Topuria in a lightweight championship unification bout that headlines the historic UFC White House event on June 14. Despite twice holding interim gold at 155 pounds and also claiming the “BMF” title with an incredible head kick knockout over Dustin Poirier at UFC 291, “The Highlight” is yet to achieve undisputed status and he aims to change that when he squares off with Topuria.

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Gaethje has been a mainstay in the lightweight championship picture despite rarely stringing together more than a handful of wins and he attributes that to his persistence—and his stubbornness when it comes to the UFC matchmakers lining him up for an up-and-coming talent to take his spot.

“Honestly, I just stayed the course and I win when I need to win,” Gaethje told Grind City Media. “I’ve only lost to past champions or in championship fights and obviously that’s not nice, I don’t like that part about my career, but then I come back, I get back on the horse, I get back to work. Coming off of losses, I’m much more dangerous than I am coming off wins. That’s the human mind, it’s just a tricky situation to be in when you’re being successful to stay as committed to the process as you need to, but there’s always a UFC 300 quick reminder, nice knockout.

“So I’m training with the thought of ‘I just got knocked out by Max Holloway.’ I have had two wins since then and it’s been awesome. They’ve tried to get rid of me—they don’t want to get rid of me, obviously, but I have held off these young up-and-coming, you know, f*cking these guys are so hungry. Paddy [Pimblett] was so hungry. [Rafael] Fiziev was so hungry. Arman [Tsarukyan’s] so hungry. There won’t be a time when I’m fighting guys that are older than me now, so these guys are all up-and-comers and every time I’ve got the opportunity I’ve held them off. So I’m here for a reason, I’m here because I’m one of the best in the world. I’m fighting a guy that is absolutely incredible, but I have a great coach and we’re going to have a great plan and I’m going to change his face just like I always do to all of my opponents.”

Gaethje’s past three wins have all come against younger opposition. He defeated Paddy Pimblett at UFC 324 this past January to win a second interim title, and before that he won a rematch against Rafael Fiziev to improve to 2-0 in their series. There’s also the aforementioned Poirier knockout, though Gaethje is just a couple of months older than “The Diamond.”

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The topic of age isn’t far from Gaethje’s mind, and when he thinks about a younger fighter retiring someday, his first instinct is to look in the mirror.

“One thing I’ve always said is when I think my younger self would beat myself now, then it would be time to call it quits,” Gaethje said. “Having these challenges, being the underdog against Paddy was awesome. I convince myself they’re better than me, I convince myself I’m going to lose, that way I work so hard and when I do win, and when I am successful, I’m surprised. I was surprised at how effective and how dominant that fight was because, again, these guys have so much momentum.

“Paddy has so much momentum and it’s really something similar to this fight because that I’m going to have to steal early and I was able to do that with a big body shot. Drop him in the first round, now he’s battling momentum, and that’s going to be a big factor in this fight as well, so these young up-and-comers, they’re not going to stop. These kids are coming from all over the world.”

The odds are stacked against Gaethje as he looks to not only finally become undisputed UFC lightweight champion, but also become the first fighter to defeat Topuria, who has won titles in two divisions. Currently, Topuria is a -750 favorite to beat Gaethje, per FanDuel, with Gaethje a sizable +460 underdog.

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Gaethje is eager to prove the oddsmakers wrong and with such a patriotic backdrop to work with, he’s ready to invoke one of the greatest sporting achievements in the history of the United States.

“This opportunity to do something so legendary is everything that I was made for, born for,” Gaethje said. “This could match the ‘Miracle on Ice’ for the United States of America when it comes to being successful in competition, so this opportunity is everything I could ask for. I’ve never promised you that I’m going to win because this is is such a crazy sport, but I promise you that my preparation, all the lessons that I’ve learned, I promise I will use everything I can to be as perfect as I can and I will try my hardest to be successful and represent this country.”

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