{"id":410277,"date":"2026-01-15T05:57:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T05:57:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/410277\/"},"modified":"2026-01-15T05:57:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T05:57:12","slug":"justin-gaethje-names-final-opponents-before-ufc-retirement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/410277\/","title":{"rendered":"Justin Gaethje names final opponents before UFC retirement"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe Highlight\u201d knows the clock is ticking.<\/p>\n

And he knows exactly who he wants next.<\/p>\n

Speaking with Jon Anik on Paramount+, Gaethje was asked whether he sees himself having over or under two fights left in his career.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce I get this belt, I\u2019m not going to stop,\u201d Gaethje said. \u201cI\u2019m going to beat Paddy, I\u2019m going to beat Ilia [Topuria]<\/a>, and then I gotta get Max [Holloway] back \u2014 I have to. I need him to beat Charles [Oliveira]. Well, actually it doesn\u2019t matter because they both beat me, so I want either one of them. Those are the only two guys I have the opportunity to get back right now. That\u2019s what I\u2019m shooting for.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite his confidence, Gaethje understands he\u2019s operating on borrowed time and is far closer to retirement than a long-term title reign.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery single one of these is a traumatic life experience,\u201d Gaethje told TNT Sports recently. \u201cThere\u2019s no matching the high or the low of winning or losing in this sport. It kind of ruins other parts of life. But I\u2019m so hungry, and I\u2019ve never felt more alive than when I go in there. I will miss it when it\u2019s gone. I think I truly love it more than most.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis isn\u2019t the beginning,\u201d Gaethje concluded. \u201cI\u2019m 37 years old. I\u2019d be a fool to think we\u2019re just getting started here. The end is near.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cThe Highlight\u201d knows the clock is ticking. And he knows exactly who he wants next. Speaking with Jon…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":410278,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[444],"tags":[49,48,641,33601,638,82,153471,139445,702,9468,3194],"class_list":["post-410277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-fighting","tag-latest-ufc-mma-news","tag-mma","tag-sports","tag-ufc-324","tag-ufc-on-paramount","tag-ufc-news","tag-ufc-videos","tag-videos"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=410277"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410277\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/410278"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=410277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=410277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=410277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}