“The Highlight” is ready to get back to the aggressive style that made his name in the UFC.
Lakewood resident Justin Gaethje is set to fight Rafael Fiziev in the co-main event on Saturday at UFC 313 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Gaethje is coming off a knockout loss to Max Holloway in April 2024 but is the No. 3 lightweight contender.
“I used to be so aggressive, then I started to find success by being a little more passive, then I believe I became a little too passive,” Gaethje said. “And now it’s time to go in the other direction, and especially be more aggressive than I was in the last fight.”
The final moments of the viral KO defeat to Holloway, in which the two fighters went blow-for-blow in the waning moments before Holloway sent Gaethje to the canvas with one second left, is the unhinged hostility that Gaethje wants to summon on Saturday.
“I knew that I had probably lost the fight on the scorecards, and my only option was to put it all on the line and try to knock him out,” Gaethje recalled. “It sucks that I waited so long for that, because I think that was the mistake that I made for the entirety of that fight — trying to wait for things instead of going in there and making things happen.
“If you’ve seen me fight the majority of my fighting career, you’re going to see more of that guy, but a much more athletic, refined version of that. So I’m excited to go in there on Saturday and try it out.”
Coming off a title loss to Charles Oliveira in 2022, Gaethje beat Fiziev by majority decision in ’23, then KO’d Dustin Poirier with a kick to the head later that year. While the loss to Holloway derailed Gaethje’s momentum, the 36-year-old is still hungry for another chance at the belt. The former UFC Interim Lightweight Champion in 2020, Gaethje is 0-2 in title bouts since that triumph, with both defeats coming by submission.
So the former Northern Colorado wrestling star sees Saturday’s bout against Fiziev — a short-notice fill-in after originally scheduled opponent Dan Hooker fractured his hand — as a chance to put himself back into the conversation for a title shot against Islam Makhachev.
The belt holder is currently UFC’s No. 1-ranked pound-for-pound fighter and has won five straight title fights dating back to taking the belt from Oliveira in 2022.
“Right now, the timing is perfect for me to go out there, have an amazing performance and get a finish, and then I’m right there in the conversation because there’s really no obvious choice right now,” Gaethje said. “I’ve never fought Makhachev. Oliveira has, (Poirier) had a chance. Ilia Topuria wants it, but Makhachev’s going to make him fight somebody else (first). So hopefully the timing works out perfectly.”
Gaethje knows his time is short to make another push for the belt. But he trusts his two coaches (wrestling coach Ben Cherrington has been with him for 17 years, and striking coach Trevor Wittman for 13 years), as well as his family, to let him know when it’s time to retire.
“I rely on them to have that discussion when that discussion needs to be had,” Gaethje said. “But until then, I have to stay in it. I feel the same as I did when I was 28, 22. I’ve been lucky to not have any serious injuries, and I still feel great. Fighting is still in me.”
Also of local note, Golden resident Curtis Blaydes is fighting Saturday as well, with the heavyweight taking on Rizvan Kuniev in the final bout of the prelims. Blaydes is looking to get back in the win category after getting TKO’d by Tom Aspinall a minute into the interim heavyweight title bout last summer.