In the years since making that splashy first impression, Gaethje has kept his foot on the gas pedal even while continually stepping in with the best of the best. If you are telling the story of the UFC lightweight division over the past decade, you will derive all of your main characters from Gaethje’s résumé. Khabib Nurmagomedov, Charles Oliveira and Eddie Alvarez, champions all. Dustin Poirier twice. Tony Ferguson. Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone.
Pimblett is self-aware enough to recognize what he’s up against. He’s been known to supplement his cage skills with prefight trash talk, but when Pimblett sat a few feet from Gaethje at the dais of a UFC news conference last month, he found himself in the humble role of fanboy. “Justin Gaethje’s one of my favorite fighters to watch,” Pimblett said. “He’s your favorite fighter’s favorite fighter.”
Gaethje understands what Pimblett brings to the table as well. At that same promotional appearance, he gestured toward his opponent as he said, “We’re in the entertainment business, I’m the most entertaining fighter in the world, and this guy’s pretty close behind me.”
If he fights the fight that he usually fights, chances are good Gaethje will end Saturday holding his 10th fight of the night bonus check, which would put him in a tie for the most ever. The two fighters who share the top spot now are Poirier and Edson Barboza, both of whom have made more than twice as many Octagon appearances (32 apiece) as Gaethje.
At age 37, Gaethje is closer to the end of his career than the beginning. It could even end on Saturday. Ever since Holloway handed him his first knockout defeat in six years at UFC 300 in 2024, Gaethje has said if he’s KO’d again, he will retire. But when he sat down with ESPN last week, Gaethje put that Holloway fight in a different context, one that raises a telling subtext underlying his matchup with Pimblett.
The Holloway fight was for a BMF belt, which symbolizes a fan-friendly fighting style that seems right up Gaethje’s alley but ended up getting him out of his game.
“I think the biggest mistake for me was looking at it as a spectacle fight or a fight that was for fun, and not understanding or recognizing the danger that I was in,” Gaethje told ESPN. “So I didn’t get to go to my primal competitive nature. And so, I mean, that was a scary night. When you go to a primal place, you’re not there, you’re not retaining information. I remember his face. I’d never seen an opponent’s face.”
What will Gaethje see when Pimblett is standing in front of him on Saturday? Will he see the friendly face who has shown him respect and has engaged in zero trash talk? Can Gaethje generate the animosity necessary to block out his opponent’s face and see red?
“So I’m excited for this opportunity. Can’t wait to f— this kid up, honestly. I’ve been telling myself he’s going to hurt me, so that I will go to the most primal place that I can. And when I go to that primal place, I’m one of the most dangerous in the world.”
That double dose of aggressive intensity will boost the appeal of UFC 324, which took a big hit last week when its other scheduled title bout had to be canceled. Kayla Harrison was to defend her women’s bantamweight championship against out-of-retirement Amanda Nunes, the consensus GOAT of the women’s game. UFC CEO Dana White had lauded the bout as “the greatest women’s fight of all time.” Yet that legit title fight was to be the co-main event, billed second on the marquee underneath Gaethje vs. Pimblett for just an interim belt.
“It ain’t bragging,” Muhammad Ali once said, “if it’s true.”
The UFC knows what it has in its headliners, particularly Gaethje.
