Justin Gaethje was convinced that he wasn’t going to compete at the UFC White House card and it wasn’t until he was attending UFC 326 on Saturday that he found out he was facing Ilia Topuria in the main event.
The highly secretive matchmaking process for the historic card taking place on the south lawn at the White House had UFC CEO Dana White sweating bullets, especially after he revealed that one fight he was working on fell apart just hours before he was supposed to announce the event. While it’s
unclear if that fight involved Topuria and a different opponent but Gaethje says he was told specifically just a few days ago that he wouldn’t be competing at the White House.
“Two days ago, I got a call and they said ‘you’re definitely not fighting on the White House card’ so I was like all right, cool,” Gaethje told About Last Fight at UFC 326. Then yesterday I got a call and they said ‘you might hear something, you might be on the White House card.’ How are you going to go a complete 180 turn on me. Then today I found out I was on it.
“I didn’t know if I was main event or what. I think a lot of things are always moving when they’re putting these things together.”
Of course, Gaethje called for the opportunity to compete at the White House after he dispatched Paddy Pimblett in impressive fashion this past November to claim the interim lightweight title.
As much as he wanted that slot, Gaethje isn’t letting the moment get to him, especially knowing the preparation he’s going to need to get ready for somebody like Topuria.
“Another day at the office,” Gaethje said. “I was just here a month ago. I’m excited for it. I will think about it, I’ll put myself in the scenario and the atmosphere in my mind a couple times but ultimately it doesn’t matter. It’s a lot of time between now and then all that matters is how hard I work, how disciplined I am and how ready I am.”
Topuria enters the fight with a perfect record including a 9-0 resume in the UFC and he’s scored three consecutive knockouts in his past trio of outings against Charles Oliveira, Max Holloway and Alexander Volkanovski.
That three-fight finish streak might be the most impressive in UFC history, which is why Gaethje knows he’s going to pour everything into his training camp to get ready for Topuria.
“This is going to be very easy to convince myself that I’m in a lot of danger,” Gaethje said. “His last few wins and really all of his wins in the UFC, but specifically his last three or four, have been crazy knockouts against the top caliber athletes in the sport. It’s nerve racking, it’s scary but it’s exactly what me as a competitor has done my whole life. I’ve always wanted the biggest matches. I’ve always gone up a weight class in a dual match to wrestle their best guy.
“So I just can’t wait. But I would say I’m kind of excited but I just know how much work I’m about to have to put in.”
Gaethje has spoken openly about nearing the end of his career after he’s put so many miles on his body while becoming one of the most exciting fighters to ever compete in combat sports.
Beating Topuria and becoming undisputed UFC champion at the White House would seemingly put the perfect bow on a Hall of Fame career but Gaethje isn’t done just yet. He may not have another dozen fights left in him but Gaethje is reinvigorated after his latest win and now gets the chance to cement his legacy by taking out one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the sport.
“If I win this fight, just imagine how special the latter part of my career could be,” Gaethje said. “With everything I went through and how crazy this sport is.”
