Volk thinks future world champ could make shock Aussie move<\/a><\/p>\nPereira vs Gane face-off | 01:57<\/p>\n
And as for the weigh-in show itself?<\/p>\n
OK, for that one think skydivers with pyrotechnics, and American flags, being joined by fireworks, beer snakes, Creedence Clearwater Revival on the loudspeakers, armed military in the crowds, Bud Lights, a US military drill crew \u2026 hell, even an American bald eagle soared over the masses and onto the stage to start proceedings.<\/p>\n
Of course, you had Gaethje, too.<\/p>\n
A fighter who is himself as American as Free Bird.<\/p>\n
Officially, Gaethje weighed in at the lightweight championship limit of 155 pounds, as did Topuria<\/p>\n
While in the co-main, and despite having once reigned as a UFC middleweight champion, Alex Pereira tipped the scales at 251 pounds for his heavyweight debut \u2014 three pounds heavier than opponent, Ciryl Gane.<\/p>\n
Hokit, meanwhile, did Hokit s***.<\/p>\n
Pretending to weigh in drunk at the official weigh ins Saturday morning, and at the UFC Fighter Hotel \u2014 which included hurling a couple of vomit chunks onto his bare chest.<\/p>\n
Or maybe it was Apple Sauce.<\/p>\n
Who knows?<\/p>\n
But anyway, back to Gaethje.<\/p>\n
Who come the evening ceremonials appeared to the crowd as American as apple pie.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was absolutely made for this s*** right here,\u201d the challenger said on stage after hitting the mock scales. \u201cI am blessed to be in this position, and I will take his \u2018O\u2019 from him tomorrow night. You watch.\u201d<\/p>\n
Topuria, unsurprisingly, disagreed.<\/p>\n
\u201cJoe,\u201d he told compare Joe Rogan, \u201cever since I was a little kid, I always heard this code, the American Dream.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I never really understood that word.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut tomorrow night I\u2019m going to live the American dream. I\u2019m going to get another victory, eighteen-and-oh. I\u2019m going to get that victory with fashion.<\/p>\n
\u201cSee you tomorrow night. Let\u2019s go.\u201d<\/p>\n
UFC commentator Joe Rogan with Ilia Topuria. AP Photo\/Julia Demaree NikhinsonSource: AP<\/p>\n
Elsewhere on stage, Alex Pereira wore his tribal garb, Derrick Lewis gave away his shirt to the crowd, then pants, Michael Chandler jumped about like the Energizer Bunny, Dana White mouthed \u201cf***ing unbelievable\u201d to the fans and Josh Hokit \u2026 well, he again did Hokit s***.<\/p>\n
Yep, it was that sort of day.<\/p>\n
One that just before lunch, and in a cosy downtown bar, saw Johns conduct what has to be his most unlikely interview of fight week.<\/p>\n
Understanding that only a day before watching his son challenge Topuria \u2014 and in no less than American president Donald Trump\u2019s backyard \u2013 the elder Gaethje took up an invite to down beers with a fella he knew nothing about.<\/p>\n
Worse, he thought they may be drinking Forsters.<\/p>\n
Truly, this is how good a bloke Ray is.<\/p>\n
Agreeing to meet up at the pub only 24 hours before the biggest fight of his son\u2019s life.<\/p>\n
And simply because his boy, arguably the most exciting UFC fighter of the modern era, had days earlier suggested he would.<\/p>\n
Specifically, and also while being interviewed by Johns on Tuesday, Justin Gaethje outed his father as the type of bloke who could drink anyone under the table.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhoah, hang on a second,\u201d Johns had said. \u201cGive him my number \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
And guess what?<\/p>\n
Mr Gaethje was given the offer.<\/p>\n
And wonderfully, accepted.<\/p>\n
Historic press conference gets physical | 01:46<\/p>\n
Which is how after ensuring his son made weight at the official weigh-ins on Saturday morning, Gaethje snr then headed a few blocks north to drink with Johns \u2026 and while giving an insight into life as the parent of a fella dubbed your favourite fighter\u2019s favourite fighter.<\/p>\n
Or as Rogan likes to call Gaethje, the most violent man in the world\u2019s most violent sport.<\/p>\n
Speaking with Fox Sports Australia on Tuesday, Justin Gaethje was asked what chance Ray would be of finding himself a beer on the White House lawn?<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know, that\u2019s a good question,\u201d he grinned. \u201cI\u2019ve got no idea.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut my dad, he really is the king of pre gaming. So he\u2019s going to be set no matter what.\u201d<\/p>\n
Initially raised in Bisbee, Arizona, Ray is a copper miner, and the son of a copper miner, who introduced his son, long before his time as a starring high school quarterback, to wrestling, aged four.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd given he has a twin,\u201d dad says, \u201che always had a wrestling partner\u201d.<\/p>\n
Ray has also been an MMA fan since the 80s, and recalls being sat watching fighters like Chuck Liddell as his then young son \u201cwas sat there right next to me\u201d.<\/p>\n
And now right throughout Justin\u2019s rise, dad has been sat right there next to him \u2013 supporting his boy through the highs, the lows, and the incredible streak that is 15 UFC performance bonuses.<\/p>\n
So as for how much longer Justin will be doing this, win or lose the title on Sunday?<\/p>\n
\u201cNot much longer,\u201d Gaethje snr concedes. \u201cWin or lose, he may retire.<\/p>\n
\u201cWin or lose, he may keep going.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut is he ready to retire? We\u2019re ready for him to retire. He\u2019ll be 38. That\u2019s getting up there for the sport.\u201d<\/p>\n
So as for how dad will spend fight day?<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing on a Sunday this year, me and the wife will go to church,\u201d Ray says.<\/p>\n
Then from there?<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll come home and chill,\u201d he continues, \u201cbecause it\u2019s going to be a long night.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the uncertainty around the weather, we might get home at eleven o\u2019clock at night. Or we mightn\u2019t leave until two o\u2019clock in the morning. Nobody knows.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo we\u2019ll hang at the hotel, then have a meal with our kids.\u201d<\/p>\n
Matty’s hilarious ‘Steve McGregor’ Prank | 00:40<\/p>\n
At some point during the interview, Gaethje\u2019s mum, Carolina, also joins the conversation.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you know,\u201d she says looking at her husband, \u201che\u2019s doing just what he loves \u2026 sitting at the bar, talking and drinking beer.\u201d<\/p>\n
So as for how mum is feeling on fight eve?<\/p>\n
\u201cNervous,\u201d she says, smiling now. \u201cI\u2019m excited for Justin \u2026 but nervous.\u201d<\/p>\n
So the secret to getting through?<\/p>\n
\u201cLots of prayers,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
At which point Ray jumps in, adding: \u201cAnd we\u2019ve got a lot of family and friends back home sharing those prayers with us, too.\u201d.<\/p>\n
And so as the beers flow, the Gaethjes will do their best to give an insight into one of the world\u2019s most exciting fighters, while Johns does his best to explain everything from rugby league to kookaburras, and why nobody drinks Fosters Down Under.<\/p>\n
Oh, yeah, he also devotes a few minutes to his infamous Uncle Herbie.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho was a miner, too,\u201d Johns says. \u201cBut then he had a bad accident, got a great payout and dedicated the rest of his life to drinking.<\/p>\n
\u201c[Laughs] Honestly, it was his number one love. And he always stayed faithful.<\/p>\n
\u201cHerbie would go to the local every day and drink from 10 o\u2019clock in the morning until 10 at night. One day dad asked the publican, \u2018Athol, how many beers do you reckon Herbie drinks?\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cSo they put him on a clip \u2026 and it was 36 schooners.\u201c<\/p>\n
Word of which quickly got about town.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd a couple of young blokes,\u201c Johns continues, \u201dthey bet Herbie $100 he couldn\u2019t drink 50 schooners in a day. Well, he drank the 50 and then bought a flask of wine for the wife on the way home.\u201d<\/p>\n
And still, Johns wasn\u2019t done.<\/p>\n
\u201cHerbie would holiday at a caravan park in Forster-Tuncurry,\u201d he continued, as Mr Gaethje could only smile and shake his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo he was at the pub one day and these young guys were told \u2018hey, this is Cessnock\u2019s number one drinker\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo the young blokes said, \u2018We bet you can\u2019t drink 10 schooners in 20 minutes\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo Herbie says, \u2018Listen boys, I\u2019ve got to go back to the caravan because my wife is cooking lunch. But I\u2019ll be back after that to have a go\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut what he did, he went to another pub, worked out he could do it, then went back to the pub and did it again \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
A feat which impressed even Mr Gaethje.<\/p>\n
UFC lightweight fighters Ilia Topuria and Justin Gaethje. AP Photo\/Allison RobbertSource: AP<\/p>\n
A fella who come Sunday night\u2019s event here in Washington DC \u2013 which will be shown live into Australia on Monday \u2013 will be on the lawn for all seven fights, which is capped off by his son. <\/p>\n
So as for his beer dilemma?<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, you\u2019d have to assume they are serving,\u201d the son of America\u2019s UFC headliner says hopefully. \u201cBut I dunno.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope they are, I really do.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will be a different experience if they don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Matty Johns is perched up at the bar of a Washington DC hotel, filling two pints of Miller…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":736708,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,85,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-736707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-sports","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/736707","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=736707"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/736707\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/736708"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=736707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=736707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=736707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/poster-fallback.png\"\/)
<\/p>\n