LAS VEGAS – Justin Gaethje is no stranger to barn burners.
Gaethje (26-5 MMA, 9-5 UFC) meets Paddy Pimblett (23-3 MMA, 7-0 UFC) for the interim lightweight title in Saturday’s UFC 324 (Paramount+) main event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Pimblett vowed to give Gaethje a beatdown that he’s never experienced before, but “The Highlight” brushed those comments off.
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“I certainly take nothing from those comments,” Gaethje told MMA Junkie and other reporters at Wednesday’s UFC 324 media day. “It’s 25 minutes in time. Right now, what he’s saying right now does not matter. All that tells me is that hopefully he’s going to be overconfident, and the last thing you can do in this sport is have false confidence.
“He’d be crazy to think and not know that I’m one of the most dangerous guys he’s ever fought. I’ve been scheduled for a five-round fight at least 20 times in my career. Certainly not the same for him. It’s a different ball game.”
Former interim champion Gaethje is no stranger to five-round fights, having been part of numerous headliners and title fights throughout his career. He sees a dragged-out war playing in his favor.
“You don’t know what you don’t know. He hasn’t been there,” Gaethje said of Pimblett. “I’ve been scheduled at least 20 times for five-round fights, so it’s definitely different training, different mindset, different tactics when you’re fighting.
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“I want to take him to the fourth and fifth round. I want to do the same thing, turn his face into minced meat. I’ve done it before, done it to higher-caliber fighters, but this guy has a lot of momentum right now, a lot of confidence, and those are some of the most dangerous variables that I will be facing when I step in there.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC 324: Justin Gaethje warns Paddy Pimblett about one thing
