UFC lightweight champion Justin Gaethje says that he “never really lost hope” of winning the championship belt at 155 lbs despite his losses.
At age 37, Gaethje won the UFC lightweight title when he pulled off a massive upset win over Ilia Topuria at the UFC White House card.
Given it has been just over two years since Gaethje was brutally knocked out cold by Max Holloway at UFC 300 in one of the sport’s most-iconic knockouts ever, it’s pretty incredible that Gaethje was able to persevere and get to where he is today despite all the trials and tribulations that he’s gone through in his MMA career and in his life.
But Gaethje says he never gave up on his goal of being the UFC lightweight champion.
Justin Gaethje Never Gave Up Dream of Being UFC Champion
Speaking on the “What Hones You” podcast, Gaethje explained why he never gave up hope of becoming the undisputed UFC lightweight champion.
“I never really lost hope. I always knew that I was performing better than I had, I knew that my body still felt as good as it ever did. I knew that this sport was crazy, and I just had to put wins together. And, yeah, that was the mindset,” Gaethje said (via MMAFighting.com).
“I mean, it doesn’t sound practical to say I never thought that it was gone. Because going through those two fights (title fight losses to Khabib Nurmagomedov and Charles Oliveira), and then the Max Holloway fight after that, it made it real difficult. Before the Max fight I was on a, what, two or three-fight winning streak? I had knocked out Dustin Poirier. I was definitely planning on fighting for the belt next. I think Oliveira had (the shot), that’s when Topuria came up to lightweight and they made that fight. So I was like, (expletive), that kind of throws a wrench in everything.”
What’s Next For Justin Gaethje?
With Gaethje now being the UFC lightweight champion, everyone at 155 lbs is gunning for him and trying to get the belt that is now wrapped around his waist.
Gaethje seems likely to fight top contender Arman Tsarukyan next, but Tsarukyan says that he wants to get back into the cage soon, and if Gaethje doesn’t fight again for six months due to all the damage he took in the war with Topuria, then he might need to take some time off.
If that’s the case, and if Tsarukyan fights someone else like Oliveira in the meantime, then Gaethje will likely just sit back and assess his options.
One of those could be Conor McGregor, the UFC superstar who returns to the Octagon at UFC 329 when he takes on Max Holloway in a welterweight rematch. If McGregor goes out there and beats Holloway, then it’s possible that he could call for the title shot with Gaethje, and the champ might accept it since it’s the biggest money fight that is out there for him. But it all hinges on a McGregor win.
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