Justin Gaethje Reveals Retirement Threat Was Influenced by Manager

Justin
Gaethje’s recent retirement threat was not all his
idea. 

Gaethje (26-5) is scheduled to fight Paddy
Pimblett for the interim lightweight title at UFC 324
on Jan. 24 in Las Vegas. The interim title fight was hatched after
champion Ilia
Topuria announced a short break from competition for personal
reasons. Gaethje and Pimblett (23-3) were previously frontrunners
for a title shot against Topuria. However, Topuria has clearly
expressed his preference for defending his title against Pimblett
over Gaethje. Gaethje was threatening retirement if denied a title
shot in his next fight. 

Thankfully for Gaethje, circumstances played out in his favor.
However, Gaethje recently revealed that the retirement threat was
partly his manager, Ali Abdelaziz’s idea. Gaethje also admitted
that he was being emotional about the whole situation.

Taking Things Personally

“I definitely got what I asked for,” Gaethje told the UFC. “It was
more that my manager put me in that. I probably said it — we’re
emotional beings and we’re petty. We don’t get to where I’m at, or
where these fighters are at, without being petty. I take things
personally, and I thought I earned something. And so I was trying
to stand up.”

Gaethje threatened retirement because he felt that the UFC owed him
a title shot since he had the promotion’s back on multiple
occasions. Abdelaziz also doubled down, claiming Gaethje was likely
to follow through with his threat. However, Dana White was unfazed
and briefly suggested that Gaethje should probably retire if he was
considering it.