Justin Gaethje is excited to fight Paddy Pimblett for the interim lightweight title on January 24th at UFC 324. More importantly, he’s excited to fight for interim lightweight title money.
Gaethje hasn’t fought since an impressive win over Rafael Fiziev in March, and there was some question as to whether he’d ever fight again. “The Highlight” made it clear that it was a title shot or bust for him, and he was willing to retire if he didn’t get it. While championship legacy is important to Gaethje, so is the money side of things. He made it clear in a new interview with Papa Legaspi that title fight money was the only money worth fighting for.
“Whenever we fight for an interim championship, it’s everything a championship is on paper,” Gaethje explained. “So my contract says I’m going to get paid a certain amount to challenge for a championship. Now I get paid that for this fight. That was very important for me.”
“I’m the most consistent, most exciting guy that’s ever stepped in there. The last fight was the first time that I’ve ever made less than my previous fight ever in my whole life, and I don’t want that to happen. So I’ve got to be in these big fights.”
A ‘normal’ fight for Gaethje likely sits around the mid-six figures while a title fight earns him a couple million. With that much money at stake as his career nears its end, it’s no wonder he was willing to dig his heels in and make demands.
Now that the money side of things is solved, Gaethje is looking forward to winning, and f–king up people’s hopes for a Paddy Pimblett vs. Ilia Topuria superfight.
“I’m gonna have to spoil. I don’t know that the UFC wants it, I know that the fans probably want Paddy and Ilia like they wanted Tony [Ferguson] and Khabib [Nurmagomedov],” he said. “And I’m gonna f–k it up. And that’s my job.”