Justin Gaethje is planning a comeback next year, but the outcome won't define him. The reigning UFC lightweight champion believes he could hang up his gloves tomorrow with his legacy set in stone. Gaethje's career appeared to hang in the balance when he fought Ilia Topuria at the White House.
His camp had teased that a loss could be the nail in the coffin for his career. Gaethje was already the most exciting fighter in UFC history, with post-fight bonus records to back it up. He has nothing left to prove after becoming lightweight champion.
"To be quite honest, I feel like I've fulfilled my legacy," told CBS Sports' Damien Harris, who previously played for the New England Patriots and Buffalo Bills. Upsetting Topuria at UFC Freedom 250 fulfilled his legacy, but not exclusively because Gaethje became champion. It's because of how the victory reframed Gaethje's knockout loss to Max Holloway.
"I think that Max Holloway loss was a huge building block to the legacy that I've built," Gaethje said. "Without that, this win wouldn't have been as special. Especially with Ilia beating him by knocking him out, and me going in there and having success.
I couldn't write it any better." Gaethje cashed as a significant underdog against Topuria, the latter of whom was considered a pound-for-pound best. Gaethje, 37, also became the oldest UFC lightweight champion in history. Such feats inspire self-belief, but Gaethje knows how important it is to thread the needle between confidence and overconfidence.
"It's weird because I gained a lot of confidence, but I've been through so many fights that I know there's a little bit of luck and chance involved," Gaethje said. "No matter how confident you are, overconfidence will kill you because anything can happen at any moment in this game.
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