Jeff WagenheimJan 23, 2026, 08:00 AM ET
Justin Gaethje, who headlines UFC 324 on Saturday night against Paddy Pimblett in a fight for an interim lightweight championship, has made one unshakable proclamation again and again over the years: "I am the most exciting fighter that has ever stepped in the Octagon." And the thing about Gaethje making such a declaration is that he's so matter-of-fact about it, never sounding the least bit boastful. It's like he's channeling a fighter from the past who possessed a legendary self-belief.
"It ain't bragging," Muhammad Ali once said, "if it's true."
It is all true, what Gaethje says about the excitement he brings to his fights and how it is unmatched in the history of his sport. And he's far from alone in that belief, as he pointed out when questioned about it at a UFC prefight news conference a couple of years ago. "I don't just believe it. You believe it," Gaethje told reporters. "You all believe it. You know it to be true."
Yes, we do. Anyone who has followed MMA even a little over the past decade has experienced the heart-racing thrill of watching a Gaethje fight. From diehards to casuals, every fan knows this is the one guy you simply do not miss. The sport has its champions and stars with elite skills, a few even with charisma to match, but no one has been Gaethje's equal as a must-see attraction. The man known as "The Highlight" has fought 14 times in the UFC and has taken home 14 performance bonuses.
Gaethje started piling up those extra checks from the moment he made his UFC debut in 2017. Imported from the old World Series of Fighting as a 17-0 wildman with 15 high-octane finishes, he was put in the Octagon with gritty Michael Johnson and got rocked immediately. Was this a cautionary reminder that there are levels to this game? Not for Gaethje, who kept coming forward and kept swinging. In Round 2, his nonstop barrage of punches, kicks, knees and elbows left a bloody Johnson crumpled against the cage. Gaethje went home with a $50,000 bonus for performance of the night and $50,000 for fight of the night.
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.
Next up is Pimblett, whom few outside of his Liverpool, England, hometown would say belongs on a list of lightweight legends. But while he has not faced Gaethje's level of competition, Pimblett has momentum behind him and, if he wins this weekend, stardom in front of him. A victory over Gaethje could launch Pimblett into the stratosphere.
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."
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.
The UFC knows what it has in its headliners, particularly Gaethje.
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?
"No, when I say I don't see their face, it's not that I'm seeing red, it's that I'm not retaining information," Gaethje said. "I'm completely intuitive and reactive. ... I'm never thinking in [the Octagon]. It's all about preparation. I don't have the intention to hurt somebody when I'm sparring in practice, but I get to flip that switch when it comes to fighting.
"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."
