Gaethje hasn’t been thinking of retirement, he’s been thinking about golfing, and when his self-imposed six month break is up, he has a hitlist of opponents in mind.
We haven’t seen much of Justin Gaethje since his devastating knockout loss to Max Holloway at UFC 300, but “The Highlight” is in Las Vegas to celebrate his Mexican heritage at Noche UFC, alongside his mother who is from Sonora, Mexico.
In a new interview from MMA Fighting, Gaethje discussed his connection to Mexico, his future in fighting, and whether retirement crossed his mind after that KO loss.
“I’m so glad that I’m here, I get to see the story,” he said of the Mexican Independence Day card. “I get to take my mother with me … She said, ‘The only reason you’re Mexican is because of me so I better be your plus one.’ So she’s here with me and it’s my dad’s 60th birthday yesterday, so they drove up on Tuesday and they’re hanging out with me this week. It’s been amazing.”
Was there any discussion about having Gaethje on the card considering his ties to Mexico?
“If I didn’t get knocked out in April, it’d be awesome [to fight at UFC 306],” Gaethje said. “But it’s just long timeline. I said it was gonna be six months before I sparred. It’s been four, and I’m gonna have a difficult time making it six months because I’m itching. I think I’m gonna give it another month before I spar and then get back in the camp.”
Gaethje’s big goal is to get back within striking distance of the belt with a big win, and he has four opponents in mind to accomplish that.
“I have a list. I think Dan Hooker, Charles Oliveira, Dustin Poirier, and Alexander Volkanovski is a list of four people that I think would do for me what I need to do to get back in the [title] picture,” he said.
With Dustin Poirier teasing an announcement on his final fight, we may never see the rubber match with Justin Gaethje. That’s okay with Gaethje too.
They call him “The Highlight” for a reason ?
Bringing you all of @Justin_Gaethje‘s UFC finishes ahead of #UFC300 pic.twitter.com/HWPgJG7dJ3
— UFC (@ufc) April 11, 2024
“I told him, ‘Let’s not do it again.’ I’m not saying I don’t want to, that was the conversation we had that night because we’re 1-1, and we’re taking years from each other’s lives. So we can fight some of these young kids [instead]. But we’ll see what happens.”
Gaethje suggested leading into UFC 300 that he’s on his last run at the belt, but in this interview he said retirement never crossed his mind after the Holloway defeat because he doesn’t feel like he’s been thrown to the back of the line.
“I have not thought about it too much,” he said. “I got knocked out, woke up, and I was like, ‘I wanna golf.’ And I’ve been golfing every day since, pretty much. I’ve worked so hard for so long to be here, to to be in front of the crowd, and I love to perform. And I’m not ready to give that up.”
“This sport is so crazy. Like I said, Poirier lost to me, and then he got to fight for that belt. Honestly, you just have to stay in there, be a guy that’s capable of taking these fights. Anything can happen.”