#justin-gaethje

#justin-gaethje

"It's pretty much my only rule - I've only done it once outside of knocking somebody out," Gaethje told Mark McClune. "If I knock somebody out, then the rush of emotions is too much, where I have to flip off something. But if you don't get that knockout, there really isn't a spike of emotion. So I sure hope to knock [Topuria] out, and I sure hope to do a backflip on the White House lawn. That would be absolutely spectacular."

Justin Gaethje's manager, Ali Abdelaziz, recently addressed all doubts about the mark on the fighter's neck leading up to UFC 324. Gaethje (27-5) had a visible mark on the right side of his neck leading up to his UFC 324 interim lightweight title fight against Paddy Pimblett last weekend. There were speculations about a potential staph infection, which could have jeopardized the fight. However, the fight went through, and Gaethje left Pimblett bloodied up en route to a unanimous decision win.

Gaethje (26-5) is scheduled to fight Paddy Pimblett (23-3) for the interim lightweight title at UFC 324 on Jan. 24 in Las Vegas. Meanwhile, Holloway (27-8) is set to trade leather against Charles Oliveira (36-11) at UFC 326 on March 7 in Las Vegas. Gaethje recently revealed that he is rooting for Holloway to beat Oliveira. Gaethje wants a rematch against Holloway if they both win their respective fights. Gaethje also hopes that the current lightweight champion, Ilia Topuria, moves up a weight class. Gaethje would then defend his lightweight title against Holloway, along with the latter's BMF title on the line, preferably at the White House in June.

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.