LAS VEGAS -- Justin Gaethje is back on Saturday, and I for one couldn't be happier. Now, had he announced he was back in August, or October, or even December, I might have viewed things much differently.
But when Gaethje steps into the Octagon on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in the co-main event of UFC 313 to face Rafael Fiziev in a rematch of a 2023 bout Gaethje won by majority decision, it will be 11 months since Max Holloway short-circuited his brain waves.
In one of the most memorable scenes in UFC history, Holloway pointed to the center of the canvas at UFC 300 on April 14 and challenged Gaethje to go toe-to-toe over the final 10 seconds. Expecting Gaethje to walk away from that challenge is like tossing a side of beef in front of a ravenous tiger and expecting it to yawn.
Gaethje accepted because well, he's JUSTIN EFFING GAETHJE, and that's how he became one of the most beloved fighters in the sport's history. Nobody's taken, and delivered, more punishment for our entertainment than Gaethje.
So he walked to the center of the ring and got caught by a hellacious right that connected the way Aaron Judge does on a hanging curve up in the zone with the game on the line.
Gaethje slumped face-first to the canvas as T-Mobile Arena erupted after witnessing the most dramatic KO in UFC history
To anyone who has sat ringside or cageside and seen an injured fighter helped or carried out, that was a worrisome moment.
Gaethje has been through more wars than two five-star generals, and the Holloway KO only added to the concern. He checked out fine in the immediate aftermath of the bout and he's fully healthy heading to the rematch with Fiziev. Despite the trauma, he never once went to bed thinking his career was done.
"No. No," Gaethje said when asked if he ever considered hanging them up after that loss. "I ain't going out like that. If it happens again, I'm sure that'll be it. I think the human body is very resilient and I think that it needs time. I took time. I went six months without getting hit.
"We play the most violent sport in the world, but I don't think it's the most dangerous, for that specific fact. We can take time between these traumatic brain injuries.”
He’s put his body on the line repeatedly because he knows no other way to go about it.
He’s 25-5 now, including 8-5 in the UFC, and no one cares too much about his record or that he’s just 3-3 in his last six.
The stat that matters is the eight Fight of the Night bonuses and the five Performance of the Night bonuses he’s wracked up. He’s received a post-fight bonus in 11 of his 13 UFC bouts and twice he’s received two bonuses in single bout.
Gaethje’s fights are so wild he can make Arturo Gatti look yawn-inducing.
“It’s been a crazy, crazy ride we’ve been on,” he said.
He’s not done yet. He enters Saturday’s bout ranked No. 3 at lightweight and very much in the title picture despite a 1-2 mark in UFC championship fights.
Guys who perform the way he does are going to get every benefit of the doubt when it comes to matchmaking.
Gaethje hasn’t given up on that dream despite the three KO losses and two submission defeats. He still believes and wouldn’t be back risking, well, everything if he thought otherwise.
“I’m definitely looking to fight the best fights and the best guys in the world,” Gaethje said. “If that’s not the goal, then I have to be done here. I’d have to commit to something else. But for right now, I’ve committed my whole life to this.
“The longer you’ve been a fan of this sport, the more you understand that anything could happen at any moment. All it takes is for you to be in a position for you to make something happen, or for something crazy to happen. There’s no reason I shouldn’t believe that I can put myself into that position again.”
A win over Fiziev will go a long way toward pushing Gaethje to yet another crack at that belt. He’s held the interim championship but hasn’t claimed the undisputed champion to this point in his spectacular career.
He’s given virtually everything in pursuit of that goal. If anyone has built the kind of goodwill among the fan base that will accept one more crack at the belt, it’s Gaethje.
Gaethje is a golfer, and he knows how tough that game is. According to Golf.com, the odds of a golfer making back-to-back aces in a round is 312 million to 1.
Funny, because in my mind, those are the same odds of Gaethje turning in a boring fight.
So for as long as he keeps going, he’ll never be more than a win or two away from another title shot. And if you’ve seen him even once, you know full well why no one would ever complain if he gets it.
Mark J. Rebilas/Imagn Images
Justin Gaethje leaves the Octagon following his KO loss to Max Holloway at UFC 300.