{"id":36513,"date":"2026-01-09T19:22:43","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T19:22:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sherdog.com\/news\/news\/Coach-Suggests-Justin-Gaethje-Nearing-Retirement-This-Is-Our-Last-Run-199686"},"modified":"2026-01-09T19:22:43","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T19:22:43","slug":"coach-suggests-justin-gaethje-nearing-retirement-this-is-our-last-run","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/coach-suggests-justin-gaethje-nearing-retirement-this-is-our-last-run\/","title":{"rendered":"Coach Suggests Justin Gaethje Nearing Retirement: \u2018This Is Our Last Run\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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According to his chief corner,
\nUltimate Fighting Championship<\/a> fan-favorite Justin
\nGaethje<\/a> is on a gold-or-bust mission.<\/p>\n

Former interim lightweight champion Gaethje has amassed a litany of
\npost-fight bonuses in his storied UFC tenure thus far, accounting
\nfor 14 additional checks across his 14 appearances. He also claimed
\nthe symbolic \u201cBMF\u201d title in 2023, wrecking Dustin
\nPoirier<\/a> in their rematch to claim the silver belt. He has not,
\nhowever, achieved his goal of an undisputed championship. Given
\ncurrent 155-pound king Ilia
\nTopuria<\/a>\u2019s struggles outside the cage, there is the potential
\nfor Gaethje\u2019s next collision\u2014against Paddy
\nPimblett<\/a> for the interim crown\u2014to have even greater stakes.<\/p>\n

\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Gaethje vs. Pimblett will headline the promotion\u2019s first event,
\nUFC 324<\/a>, on the Paramount+ service to kick off
\nthe seven-year deal the UFC made with Paramount. The 37-year-old
\nhas hinted at retiring in the past, suggesting that he does not
\nhave many fights left in him. On Friday, Gaethje\u2019s coach, Trevor
\nWittman, added to that message when speaking with ESPN.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is our last run,\u201d Wittman remarked to ESPN<\/a>. \u201cIf we don\u2019t win this fight, we\u2019re not going
\non\u2026we\u2019re not going to go out there and be a gatekeeper and look at
\nmoney fights and s–t like that. He\u2019s a goal setter, and his
\nmentality\u2026we\u2019re in his house, and his family\u2019s having a dinner, and
\nI have that \u2018true talk\u2019 and I\u2019m talking to his family and I\u2019m not
\ntalking to him. The way he ends it, he\u2019s like, \u2018it\u2019s not over,
\ncoach.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Wittman continued, \u201cThat\u2019s the key to Justin. He\u2019s very unique. He
\nwould fight over and over and over, but he knows he\u2019s got to be
\nthere for the family, he\u2019s got to be smart and take care of his
\nhealth. But, we win this belt, my shoot-to-the-moon type of goal
\nwould be, let\u2019s go out there and repeat defenses. Repeat
\ndefenses.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, this is an interim title fight, so we\u2019re not the champ
\nyet. So, we\u2019d have to go win that belt next. I always say the key
\nto being a champion is one round at a time. One round at a time
\ngets you one fight a time, once you get to one fight a time, then
\nyou start to get to the championship level. So, we\u2019re not
\noverlooking this, but we\u2019re honest that this gets us to a point
\n[where] we have that roadblock. We can\u2019t overcome those roadblocks
\nno more, he\u2019s 37 years old and we want to be smart. We\u2019re not going
\nto be the guy out there trying to fight for money and trying to go
\nchase cash for trauma.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not a Retirement Fight\u201d<\/h2>\n

Gaethje rebounded from a sensational, award-winning battle with
\nMax
\nHolloway<\/a> on UFC 300 in 2024 by outhustling Rafael
\nFiziev<\/a> for a second time in March 2025. \u201cThe Highlight\u201d is no
\nstranger to lengthy layoffs, as he has been out of action since
\nthat bout, with about 10 months spanning Gaethje-Fiziev to the
\nupcoming Pimblett tilt. Coach Wittman noted that while it might be
\nGaethje\u2019s final path to UFC gold, this is not the kind of occasion
\nwhere Gaethje is checked out and ready to leave the sport
\nbehind.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not a retirement fight,\u201d the vaunted coach stated. \u201cWhen
\nit comes to retirement fights, [scoffs], I think anybody who\u2019s
\ngoing out on a retirement fight is going to win one out of 10
\ntimes. You\u2019re already letting go. He\u2019s not letting go. He was just
\nin his position where we were\u2026we had just knocked out Poirier, we
\nhad a title fight. They offered the fight with Max, he didn\u2019t want
\nit. Pretty much everybody around us, including myself, was like,
\n\u2018Hey, this is an opportunity for you to go out there and do your
\nthing from the upper echelon.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Throughout his 14 walks to the Octagon, \u201cThe Highlight\u201d has served
\nas an event headliner in nine of those\u2014and UFC 325 will make it 10
\nof 15 come Jan. 24. The bonus magnet may trail all-time leader
\nCharles
\nOliveira<\/a>\u2019s 21, but one more would put him in a four-way tie in
\nthe No. 4 spot with Jim Miller<\/a>,
\nJoe
\nLauzon<\/a> and Poirier. Only Nate Diaz<\/a>,
\nDonald
\nCerrone<\/a> and Charles
\nOliveira<\/a> have earned more. For Gaethje, this was always his
\nplan, to become the most exciting fighter where fans circle his
\nbout date on their calendars.<\/p>\n

Wittman proudly said, \u201cHe\u2019s a people fighter. His goal when he
\nfirst got with me was like\u2026, \u2018Every time I fight, when you buy a
\npay-per-view or you buy a ticket to be in the arena, you\u2019re going
\nto be so grateful that you bought that ticket.\u2019 And he\u2019s done
\nthat.\u201d<\/p>\n