Justin Gaethje News

Tom Taylor - August 22, 2018

Ahead of his UFC Lincoln main event clash with James Vick, former World Series of Fighting champion Justin Gaethje has joked that, if he’s outclassed by Vick, he’ll retire. These comments from Gaethje, of course, were not serious. He’s not retiring yet.

Tom Taylor - August 19, 2018

After a perfect, 18-0 start to his MMA career, highlighted by a World Series of Fighting lightweight title win and a thrilling defeat of Michael Johnson in his UFC debut, the sky looked like the limit for Justin Gaethje. Since then, however, Gaethje has lost two in a row, succumbing to strikes dealt by Eddie Alvarez and Dustin Poirier. Heading into his do-or-die UFC Lincoln main event showdown with James Vick, Justin Gaethje assures he learned a key lesson from these losses. He believes he needs to keep from becoming so relaxed in his fights, and focus on being a little more cautious throughout.

Tom Taylor - July 4, 2018

Former World Series of Fighting lightweight champ Justin Gaethje is not impressed by his UFC Lincoln opponent James Vick. In fact, he finds Vick so unimpressive that he says he’d be hard-pressed not to retire from MMA if he loses to Vick in Lincoln. “I’m so much better than James Vick,” Gaethje said on Ariel Helwani’s MMA show (transcribed by Adam Guillen Jr. for MMA Mania). “It sucks to say it, but if I was to go out there and get outclassed by James Vick, I’d have to hang them up.”

Drake Riggs - June 28, 2018

Now that they are set to do battle, the war before the war inside the Octagon has begun between the men in UFC Lincoln’s main event. Late last night, it was announced that Gaethje’s original opponent for the UFC’s first time in Nebraska, ‘Ragin’ Al Iaquinta has pulled out of the bout for undisclosed reasons.

Drake Riggs - June 27, 2018

Off then on and now off again apparently for good, UFC Lincoln is in need of a new main event and opponent for ‘The Highlight’ Justin Gaethje. The former WSOF lightweight king, Gaethje and The Ultimate Fighter 15 finalist, Al Iaquinta were scheduled to square off in UFC Lincoln’s headliner on August 25th. The uber fan-friendly will now have to be put on hold as ESPN is reporting that Iaquinta has pulled out of the fight for undisclosed reasons.

Drake Riggs - June 6, 2018

It looks like Dana White has denied the truth once again. After White’s ‘shutting down’ of the possibility of a fantastic lightweight matchup between Al Iaquinta and former World Series of Fighting champion, Justin Gaethje, ESPN’s Brett Okamoto has now confirmed that the bout will headline UFC Lincoln on August 25th.

Tom Taylor - June 6, 2018

On a recent episode of his Call Me Al podcast, UFC lightweight Al Iaquinta suggested that a bout with fellow fan favorite Justin Gaethje was in the works for this summer. “We’re hoping for sometime in August,” Iaquinta said. “August, September. I think they wanted it to be sooner, but like, that guy needs a rest. I was looking out for his health with that one. He needs a break for a minute.”

Tom Taylor - May 29, 2018

On a recent episode of his podcast Call me Al, recent UFC lightweight title challenger Al Iaquinta suggested there is a possibility he’ll fight former World Series of Fighting lightweight champion Justin Gaethje sometime this summer. “We’re hoping for sometime in August,” Iaquinta said, offering a time frame for this potential fight, but acknowledging that Gaethje probably needs some time off after his last two fights, which were particularly brutal. “August, September. I think they wanted it to be sooner, but like, that guy needs a rest. I was looking out for his health with that one. He needs a break for a minute.”

Tom Taylor - April 27, 2018

New Zealand lightweight Dan Hooker is now on an impressive three-fight win-streak, and he’s hoping to be rewarded for this success with a big step up in competition. In particular, he’s hoping to fight former World Series of Fighting lightweight champion Justin Gaethje, who he considers “the stupidest guy in the division.” Hooker made his callout of Gaethje on a recent episode of Submission Radio. Here’s what he had to say about the former WSOF champ:

Tom Taylor - April 16, 2018

On Saturday night, in the main event of the UFC’s anticipated stop in Glendale, Arizona, long-time UFC lightweight contender Dustin Poirier and former World Series of Fighting lightweight champ Justin Gaethje stepped into the cage for one of the most anticipated matchups in recent memory. In the end, this matchup delivered in the way we all hoped, as Poirier and Gaethje bludgeoned each other into unrecognizable piles of black-and-blue flesh, until Poirier put an end to things with a volley of fourth-round punches. Not long after this unforgettable war, which saw both men pocket $50,000 Fight of the Night checks, Poirier took to Twitter to thank his vanquished foe for the scrap. See Poirier’s short but sweet thank you message to Gaethje below.

Chris Taylor - April 15, 2018

PHOTOS | Dustin Poirier’s right leg is jacked up following UFC on FOX 29 war with Justin Gaethje Surging UFC lightweight contender Dustin “The Diamond” Poirier scored a thrilling fourth-round TKO victory over Justin Gaethje at last night’s UFC on FOX 29 event in Glendale.

Chris Taylor - April 15, 2018

Justin Gaethje on loss to Dustin Poirier: “I will be known and remembered as one of the most entertaining fighters that ever did it!” UFC lightweight contender Justin Gaethje suffered his second straight stoppage loss in the headliner of last night’s UFC on FOX 29 event in Glendale to Dustin Poirier.

Tom Taylor - April 13, 2018

Tomorrow night, the UFC will take over Glendale, Arizona’s Gila River Arena with an exciting, 14-fight card. This UFC Glendale card will be headlined by a lightweight showdown between long-time contender Dustin Poirier, and former World Series of Fighting champion Justin Gaethje. The co-main event of the evening, meanwhile, will pit former interim welterweight champion Carlos Condit against Alex “Cowboy” Oliveira, who steps in to replace the injured Matt Brown on short notice. Other features of this UFC Glendale main card include the sophomore UFC effort of red-hot prospect Israel Adesanya, who battles Italy’s Marvin Vettori, and a women’s strawweight bout between former Invicta atomweight champ Michelle Waterson and Cortney Casey. The undercard, finally, includes names like Tim Boetsch, Antonio Carlos Junior, John Moraga, Wilson Reis, Krzysztof Jotko, Brad Tavares, Dhiego Lima, and Yushin Okami.

Drake Riggs - April 12, 2018

Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distresses. He caused the storm to be still so that the waves of the sea were hushed. Then they were glad because they were quiet, so he guided them to their desired haven… This isn’t always the case in MMA…not even close. As our combat-loving gods have shown over the years, they are very, very, very merciless. The evidence can be seen with the entire fight week leading up to UFC 223 this past week. On April Fools Day of all days out of the 365 days in a year, the UFC announced to the world that interim lightweight champion, Tony Ferguson had been injured out of his main event title fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov. That by itself was enough to put everyone into a frenzy of disbelief.

Tom Taylor - April 12, 2018

Former World Series of Fighting lightweight champ and current UFC lightweight contender Justin Gaethje is loved for his exciting, all-action style. Yet according to Dustin Poirier, who Gaethje fights this Saturday night in the UFC Glendale main event, the former WSOF champ’s style could lead to a very short career. “It’s not (a sustainable style), and I said that when he was with World Series of Fighting,” Poirier told MMAFighting this week. “I’m good friends with (American Top Team coach) Mike Brown, who’s also an MMA mastermind. He understands fighting and understands styles and matchup, and I’ve told him that before, that this guy is going to have to switch his fighting style or he’s going to have a short career. He’s going to have a bunch of fun paydays and a bunch of memorable fights, but it’s not going to last. Once it starts going downhill, it’s going to go down fast for him, fighting like that. Of course he’s going to catch guys here and there, win some bonuses, and like I said, have some great fights that people are going to remember. And it seems like that’s what he’s fighting for. He loves that, and that’s awesome.”

Tom Taylor - April 12, 2018

At present, all of Justin Gaethje’s focus is directed at his Saturday night opponent, Dustin Poirier. That being said, the former World Series of Fighting lightweight champ also has some very real beef with rising lightweight contender James Vick. Gaethje went off on Vick in a recent interview with MMAJunkie, veering off topic to share his thoughts on the towering Texan.

Chris Taylor - March 10, 2018

UFC on FOX 29: Gaethje vs. Poirier Fight Card The octagon invades Glendale, Arizona on April 14 for the promotions UFC on FOX 29: Gaethje vs. Poirier event.

Justin Golightly - February 16, 2018

If the fourth time is the charm, Khabib Nurmagoemdov and Tony Ferguson will finally fight in what is one of the most anticipated and high level fights in the world. There is another lightweight fight that everyone is talking about, which is Justin Gaethje and Dustin Poirier’s wild scrap at UFC Glendale. Nurmagomedov is adamant that he’ll be fighting for the real belt, and so is Poirier. He’s focused on taking out the former WSOF lightweight champion and testing himself against Nurmagomedov, who he predicts will be the true UFC lightweight champion. “I’m on the right track. I’ve just got to keep winning and winning solves everything. So, I’m going to come out here in two months and beat [Justin] Gaethje, and I feel like I might get a title shot. I feel like I should get a title shot with that win. I think they’re stripping Conor [McGregor] here, and they’re going to fight for the real belt. This sport is a crazy thing, and what happens, it’s unpredictable. But I think the winner of Tony Ferguson versus Khabib [Nurmagomedov] is going to be the real, undisputed UFC lightweight champion. Just the two styles, I think Khabib’s going to pressure him and be stronger and better on top, harder to submit. I mean, if Kevin Lee can take Ferguson down, Khabib is going to do the same.”