With his his penchant for violent, bloody wars, UFC lightweight star Justin Gaethje knows career longevity is not something he’s going to be blessed with. So he has some advice: see him live now, or live to regret it, because in five more fights or so, he plans to be done.
UFC Glendale’s Justin Gaethje was stopped in the fourth round of his main event war against Dustin Poirier. Yet that hasn’t stopped his star from shining even brighter. The man with the absolutely insane, never back down style known as ‘The Highlight’ put on another stellar show on Saturday, arguably getting the better of Poirier for most of the fight until the fourth. Incredibly, the Fight of the Night award bestowed on the pair makes it four bonuses in just three UFC fights for Gaethje, a pace unrivaled in the company.
Bruised but not broken, Gaethje addressed the media following the fights, opening with “why all the sad faces?”
“I didn’t get into this sport to win or lose,” he explained when asked about the loss. “It’s the entertainment factor for me. And I will be known and remembered as one of the most entertaining fighters to ever do it.” It’s hard to argue with him, given his performance at UFC on FOX 29 in Glendale.
“The best I’ve ever felt,” is how he described himself in the cage, later adding “it was just like I thought it would be, a fight, a fist fight.” Nothing more, nothing less. Gaethje admits that MMA is “an unforgiving sport, and I don’t recommend it to my enemy, but it’s what I was born and bred to do.” Something he again proved on Saturday.
On opponent Dustin Poirier, “I give him credit, he pulled through,” Gaethje noted, “gathered himself and came back strong. I think that big break from Herb Dean really helped him, I’ll give him that.” But the loss doesn’t have him down. “I go in there to entertain people. This is the entertainment business, I fight for money, and what I do helps me get paid a lot of money.”
“I want the biggest fights possible,” he continued. “Coming off two losses, that’s hard to say, but you want to see me fight. If you don’t see me fight live, you will regret it when I’m done. And it’s not going to be very long, I’ve got about five left. I want to golf when I’m sixty. I’ve got a human services degree, I want to do social work, and hopefully I can buy a lot of houses and make money that way.”
Gaethje admits he’ll likely take some time off next. Though when he’s back, it’ll likely be in another headlining spot, despite his two-fight losing streak, the first two losses of his twenty-fight career. If he truly does have just five fights left, the UFC will want to utilize him as best they can. A grudge match with James Vick, currently on a four fight win streak at lightweight, could be a possibility however.
