Justin Gaethje may recognize the amount of damage he is absorbing every fight, but he also accepts it to be part of the career he has chosen.
UFC lightweight contender Justin Gaethje is one of the few remaining fighters today who incorporates the stand-and-bang, devil-may-care style into his fights. While it is a strategy that fans enjoy watching, it also means he is taking a lot of damage in the process.
The 29-year-old Gaethje recognizes the risk he his putting his body and mind with the approach he chooses to employ, but at the same time, he concedes to the fact that it is part of the game he has chosen to play.
“Of course (taking damage) is a concern, but that’s what we do,” Gaethje said in a recent appearance on the MMA Hour (via MMA Fighting). “We fight for a living. If you watched the Edson Barboza and Kevin Lee fight, they took punches. Kevin Lee won but he took that huge spinning head kick and that’s not good for your brain, but it is what we do.”
“I can’t go to bed every night scared or worried because this is what I signed up for,” he added. “This is what I get paid to do. I try to fight twice a year so I don’t add up (the damage) too fast.”
Gaethje began wrestling at the tender age of four years old and subsequently went on to compete in both the high school and collegiate levels. He also achieved success in his MMA run that began in 2011, where he put up an 18-0 undefeated run before running into Eddie Alvarez at UFC 218 last December to experience his first-ever career loss.
While a UFC title may not be in his immediate future as of the moment, Gaethje already has an exit strategy in mind, once retirement comes knocking on his door.
“I happen to have a college education and I never planned on being a fighter,” Gaethje admitted. “I went to college, I wrestled and I took some amateur fights. When I graduated, I wanted to start using my degree, but I figured I would start fighting professionally. Then I won 18 in a row and I fought Eddie Alvarez on pay-per-view.”
“I don’t know, I never thought about being this far or having five fights left. I never planned this whole career that I’ve gotten myself into.”
“I’m hoping to earn enough to buy a few properties, that way I can make money that way and I want to do social work,” he continued. “Working in a juvenile detention center, being a probation officer for at-risk youths, I’ll do something like that. Something nice and stable.”
Gaethje (18-2, with 16 wins by stoppage), is currently on a two-fight skid. After losing to Alvarez, he was then defeated by Dustin Poirier via fourth-round TKO in mid-April in Glendale, Arizona.