Given the state of the UFC roster, there are increasingly fewer active legends left to cheer for. In a perpetually evolving MMA landscape, to be a long-standing constant is a rare achievement in and of itself. One fighter who can claim this honor better than nearly anybody is Justin “The Highlight” Gaethje. Gaethje has been fighting the who’s who in the division for his entire UFC career, with a resume so prestigious that he easily ranks among the best athletes to never win an undisputed title. Gaethje was not spoon-fed opponents or allowed to gain his footing like many others. He was thrust into the spotlight in his debut against Michael Johnson, who truly lived up to the moniker “Menace” during this time period. Justin has fought and defeated Johnson, Dustin Poirier (my boy), Donald Cerrone, Edson Barboza, Rafael Fiziev (twice), and Michael Chandler. He has lost to Max Holloway (decorated featherweight champion and symbolic BMF champion), Poirier (during their first fight), Khabib Nurmagomedov (former lightweight champion), Charles Oliveira (former lightweight champion), and Eddie Alvarez (former lightweight champion). Unless you have just begun watching the sport around the Paramount+ era, you will recognize that Gaethje has been spending his tenure on maximum difficulty. Gaethje is not a flawless fighter, but had he not spent his time during the Dagestani reign of terror, may very well have been the best.
To the untrained eye (I realize I sound pretentious), Gaethje sometimes appears sloppy and technically unrefined. While he has been among the most violent fighters of the last decade, it is well known that he has a proclivity to make his bouts ugly. Put simply, he is more than willing to disregard defense in order to land his own offense. Of course, that is not to say he is not insanely skilled and talented. He certainly has to be in order to have the rank that he does. In this report, I will delve into Gaethje’s good habits, as well as potential weaknesses. Hopefully, this will help dispel the notion that Justin is not just a brick, but a finely tuned fighter.
Obviously, we all know about Gaethje’s leg kicks, which he has used to cripple nearly everyone he has faced. We can get into that later. Instead, I want to start off with a weapon that can be easy to overlook, the collar tie. Collar ties are useful in MMA and other combat sports because they allow one to control their opponent and dictate where the fight may lead. They are excellent for holding someone still so their user can land devastating short-range strikes, such as knees and uppercuts. Gaethje’s collar ties are not as sophisticated or versatile as, say, Oliveira’s, but they are essential to his game. Remember, Gaethje wants to make the fight ugly, and what better way to do that than force the fight into a metaphorical phone booth? In particular, Gaethje uses this tool in conjunction with another, that being his jab. Gaethje can use the jab as it is meant to be used, that being distance management and setting up further strikes. In many of his fights, Gaethje uses the jab to close the gap and get closer to his opponent. He will then convert his jab into a collar tie. Whether it is off the jab or during an exchange, Gaethje’s left arm is almost always the one obtaining the collar tie. Once he has his opponent still, he will launch crushing right hooks and uppercuts. Being that Gaethje is not the fastest martial artist, this is a great way for him to slow the fight down and make it muddy.
Justin is also adept at converting another strike into a collar tie, that being his left hook. In close-quarters exchanges, particularly when facing dangerous strikers, Gaethje will whip a left hook that serves as more of a club to gain purchase on the head.
Take his second fight with Fiziev as the prime example. Fiziev is a fast and flashy Muay Thai fighter with a more expansive striking arsenal than Justin. Gaethje’s collar tie was instrumental in his winning this contest.
Below, Justin works this technique to perfection against Fiziev in his most recent fight. He first ducks away from a right uppercut, then launches a hard left hand into a collar tie, allowing him to set up a right uppercut that drops Fiziev.
Gaethje executes the same exact maneuver against Oliveira during the first round, once more dropping the other martial artist.
While Gaethje definitely has his preferences for his collar ties, he does not discriminate in terms of how he grips. While the head is the preferable target, all Gaethje needs is some semblance of control to enable him to get closer. He will often be seen grasping the lat or torso of the other fighter to pull himself in to land right hands. It is important to note at this juncture that Gaethje is a very hittable fighter. A key issue with collar ties or close-quarters combat in general is that if you are close enough to hit your opposition, then you are close enough to hit back. Gaethje is rather one-dimensional with his offense from this position. He will almost always look for the right uppercut or hook, whereas other fighters will utilize different techniques. Something that sticks out like a sore thumb is that Gaethje must be the one initiating the collar tie in order for it to work for him. Many times, both fighters will maintain a collar tie or some other grip on the other. Justin needs to be the sole holder. When Alvarez, Fiziev, or Oliveira used the tie against him, they found heavy success. Oliveira was able to use his own collar tie and body lock to dominate Gaethje at certain moments. Alvarez was able to hold Gaethje still to land his own uppercuts to the body (investing in the body reaped rewards for Alvarez here).
Here, Fiziev initiates an underhook and collar tie to land knees in the clinch against Gaethje, although he takes some hits himself. Fiziev does not rely on the right uppercut, so he has a more elaborate toolkit.
I touched on Justin’s jab earlier and how it sets up his right uppercut. Gaethje does not always require a collar tie in order to land effectively. Gaethje lands best when he can keep it stationary. He will throw his jab to force his opponent to shell up or dodge, disrupting their motion to land an uppercut. Here, Justin jabs to make Chandler flinch, then drops him with an uppercut. Uppercuts are useful because they can split the guard, whereas a hook or cross may glance off the arms.
In MMA, it is best to fight either all the way in or all the way out. If one stalls in the middle, they are a sitting duck. Staying far enough away keeps one safe from just about anything (although eventually distance must be bridged in order to actually fight), while staying close crowds punches and kicks, making them far less effective. Sounds obvious, right? Yet, fighters sometimes fail to abide by this principle. Justin, however, executes this fairly well when timing his offense. He is a pressure fighter, yet is not as reckless as expected. Justin will often blitz in with his low kicks in a soccer-like style, chopping away at the base before he can get clipped. His punches are what stand out to me in this area. When watching film, I see Gaethje tend to blitz in with a massive overhand right or hook. Gaethje usually dips side to side in his exchanges (making him vulnerable to knees). Due to such a large movement, Gaethje’s head is already off the centerline. Whether the right hand lands or not, Gaethje is now close to his target, which is what he wants. He can then either throw a left hook, a collar tie, or both (see above). So, by throwing the right, he funnels them into the left, which in turn sets up the right hook or uppercut. Poirier closed the distance similarly, although he used a stance switch (reference my article on Dustin). Gaethje rolls constantly between punches, almost in a “drunken master” style, making him a moving target without requiring otherworldly reflexes. The overhand right and rolling motion can be seen in the earlier clip against Oliveira, where Justin throws an overhand right while simultaneously ducking under return fire.
Clearly, this piece cannot be complete without touching on Gaethje’s destructive leg kicks. It is surprising that Gaethje, originally a wrestler by trade, was able to make this kick such a cornerstone of his game. It is no accident, as he has some swing in his favor in terms of how he sets them up. Gaethje has tremendous power in his hands, and this means that other fighters do not know whether the danger will come from above or below. In true Gaethje fashion, he will take one in order to land one. When someone throws a punch, they transfer weight onto their lead foot. When Gaethje sees a strike coming, he will time a low kick to attack the lead leg when it is at its most vulnerable. This has its caveats, and he risks being clipped by whatever strike comes his way. That being said, leg kicks are a great way to interrupt an opponent’s combination and allow Gaethje to reset.
In his first fight against Poirier, as Poirier jabs, Gaethje times an outside low kick.
While Gaethje has improved over the years, he has a tendency to still defend by dipping to the side with his hands in front of his face. On more than one occasion, the opposing fighter’s corner has called for knees because of this. Easier said than done, but this movement becomes predictable and can be exploited. I am shocked that this is not taken advantage of more than it is. What does happen frequently is that Justin is clipped by the left hand. This is because he sometimes keeps his right guard out of position. This, paired with the fact that fighters know the low kick is coming, means he can be set up.
In the 2018 fight against Poirier, Poirier was reaching for a left straight in order to counter the inside leg kick that Gaethje was throwing all night. Poirier is a southpaw, and Justin’s low kicks put him right in target range. This is not a one-time incident, Fiziev countered a low kick with a left straight on at least one occasion during the opening round of their second fight. In the finishing sequence, Poirier threw the left straight as soon as Gaethje launched the leg kick.
Perhaps a better example is against Fiziev, also in their second bout. In this exchange, Fiziev is able to find paydirt with a left hook. Gaethje is tagged by left hands often enough to constitute a vulnerability.
Like with anyone, Gaethje is not as simple as he appears. He is not the most elaborate fighter, but he has a few tricks up his sleeve. These tactics, when used incessantly, may make him predictable, especially because he can be limited in what he chooses to throw. The majority of the time, there are no takedowns or spinning elbows to worry about, for example. So, Gaethje must be continuously creative with how he uses his greatest hits. As I always say, respect the OGs while they are around. If Justin cannot get it done against Paddy Pimblett this weekend, he likely loses his last opportunity to win a belt, and has expressed a desire to continue fighting only if he has a true title chance. Win or lose, I thank him for all the wonderfully entertaining violence he has brought to our screens, and wish him all the best.
