Did you know Justin Gaethje was called ‘The Highlight’ long before he knew how to throw strikes? You are wondering, ‘Wait, there was a time when Gaethje couldn’t strike?’ Well, yes! Long before his time in the UFC, Gaethje was an amateur fighter with a wrestling pedigree and even had five amateur bouts without throwing a punch. Go figure!
But back then, Gaethje was all about takedowns and control—until he eventually fell in love with the pursuit of cracked knuckles. This was a time before he met coach Trevor Wittman. In fact, the last one of these five fights is why he felt the need to meet Wittman.
Apparently, tossing and throwing people around wasn’t enough, and he needed to figure out how not to get cracked up by opponents on his feet either.
Back in 2020, Gaethje appeared on the Joe Rogan Podcast with his trainer Wittman and told this ridiculous story that made the UFC commentator lose it. Interested in his wrestling pedigree, since Gaethje rarely uses it in his fight anymore, Rogan asked just how much he knew about striking before he started fighting.
“Zero, I had five amateur fights I had never been in a street fight. Never thrown a punch, never been punched, and I got hit hard in my fifth fight, almost got knocked out.”, Gaethje said nonchalantly.
“I was like, man, if I am going to do this, I need to find a coach.”, the former interim lightweight champion added.
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‘The Highlight’ went on to add that in those five fights, his main aim was to get people to the ground and then beat them up over there.
Thankfully for Gaethje and UFC fans, training under Wittman and learning how to strike completely transformed Gaethje into a different fighter.
And while his fighting style comes with its own share of risks, he has no intentions of changing it anytime soon.
Gaethje planning on sticking to what works
With a career built on thrilling fights and highlight-reel finishes, Gaethje (25-5 MMA, 8-5 UFC) knows exactly what fans love about him.
But that aggressive, stand-and-bang approach has come at a cost—like his recent UFC 300 fight, where Max Holloway knocked him out in the final second.
After that loss, many wondered why Gaethje, a former NCAA Division I All-American wrestler, didn’t even attempt a takedown. But The Highlight has no regrets.
“This is my job. I do this for the money,” Gaethje told Title Sports Network.
“If I took a heavy wrestling approach, I wouldn’t be getting paid what I am now. I’ve had huge fights because of the way I fight, so I have no regrets.”, he noted.
He’s not wrong here. After all, nobody wants to fight without getting properly paid for it. And trust Gaethje when he says that the UFC lines up his pockets to do what he does best. After all, he has 13 UFC bonuses to show for it.
His reputation also means he’s never really away from a big PPV main event; something that would never happen in a million years with a wrestling-heavy style of fighting.
