Justin Gaethje
Physical stats
Striking & grappling
Recent form
Career timeline
Career breakdown
Strength of schedule
Bonus awards
Career story
Justin Gaethje "The Highlight" is a 28-5-0 knockout artist. 63% finish rate.
Justin debuted Jul. 07, 2017 vs Michael Johnson (win). Longest win streak: 4. On a 3-fight win streak. 10 years active (Jul. 07, 2017โJun. 14, 2026).
Best wins: Dustin Poirier (KO/TKO Kick R2, Jul. 29, 2023); Paddy Pimblett (U-DEC R5, Jan. 24, 2026); Donald Cerrone (KO/TKO Punch R1, Sep. 14, 2019).
Justin Ray Gaethje ( GAY-jee; born November 14, 1988) is an American professional mixed martial artist. A professional since 2011, he competes in the lightweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is the current UFC Lightweight Champion. He is the first fighter in UFC history to win the interim lightweight title twice and is also a former UFC "BMF" titleholder. Gaethje formerly competed in the lightweight division of the World Series of Fighting (WSOF), where he was the first and only WSOF Lightweight Champion. As of September 22, 2026, he is #3 in the UFC men's pou
Similar fighters
Fight history
| Date | Event | Result | Method | R | Time | KD | Str | TD | Sub |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun. 14, 2026 | UFC Freedom 250 | W Ilia Topuria | KO/TKO | 4 | 5:00 | 0 1 | 91 97 | 0 1 | 0 0 |
| Jan. 24, 2026 | UFC 324: Gaethje vs. Pimblett | W Paddy Pimblett | U-DEC | 5 | 5:00 | 2 0 | 144 156 | 3 0 | 0 0 |
| Mar. 08, 2025 | UFC 313: Pereira vs. Ankalaev | W Rafael Fiziev | U-DEC | 3 | 5:00 | 1 0 | 72 68 | 0 2 | 0 0 |
| Apr. 13, 2024 | UFC 300: Pereira vs. Hill | L Max Holloway | KO/TKO Punch | 5 | 4:59 | 0 1 | 103 181 | 0 0 | 0 0 |
| Jul. 29, 2023 | UFC 291: Poirier vs. Gaethje 2 | W Dustin Poirier | KO/TKO Kick | 2 | 1:00 | 1 0 | 41 27 | 0 0 | 0 0 |
| Mar. 18, 2023 | UFC 286: Edwards vs. Usman 3 | W Rafael Fiziev | M-DEC | 3 | 5:00 | 0 0 | 103 97 | 1 0 | 0 0 |
| May. 07, 2022 | UFC 274: Oliveira vs. Gaethje | L Charles Oliveira | SUB Rear Naked Choke | 1 | 3:22 | 1 1 | 21 30 | 0 0 | 0 2 |
| Nov. 06, 2021 | UFC 268: Usman vs. Covington 2 | W Michael Chandler | U-DEC | 3 | 5:00 | 1 0 | 116 103 | 0 1 | 0 0 |
| Oct. 24, 2020 | UFC 254: Khabib vs. Gaethje | L Khabib Nurmagomedov | SUB Triangle Choke | 2 | 1:34 | 0 0 | 29 26 | 0 2 | 0 1 |
| May. 09, 2020 | UFC 249: Ferguson vs. Gaethje | W Tony Ferguson | KO/TKO Punch | 5 | 3:39 | 0 0 | 143 136 | 0 0 | 0 0 |
| Sep. 14, 2019 | UFC Fight Night: Cowboy vs. Gaethje | W Donald Cerrone | KO/TKO Punch | 1 | 4:18 | 1 0 | 40 17 | 0 0 | 0 0 |
| Mar. 30, 2019 | UFC Fight Night: Barboza vs. Gaethje | W Edson Barboza | KO/TKO Punch | 1 | 2:30 | 1 0 | 20 13 | 0 0 | 0 0 |
| Aug. 25, 2018 | UFC Fight Night: Gaethje vs. Vick | W James Vick | KO/TKO Punch | 1 | 1:27 | 1 0 | 7 10 | 0 0 | 0 0 |
| Apr. 14, 2018 | UFC Fight Night: Poirier vs. Gaethje | L Dustin Poirier | KO/TKO Punch | 4 | 0:33 | 0 0 | 115 174 | 0 0 | 0 0 |
| Dec. 02, 2017 | UFC 218: Holloway vs. Aldo 2 | L Eddie Alvarez | KO/TKO Knee | 3 | 3:59 | 0 1 | 122 155 | 0 1 | 0 0 |
| Jul. 07, 2017 | The Ultimate Fighter: Redemption Finale | W Michael Johnson | KO/TKO Knees | 2 | 4:48 | 0 0 | 104 91 | 0 1 | 0 0 |
Fight data compiled from public statistical sources (ufcstats.com) and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). OctagonStats is an independent database, not affiliated with UFC / TKO Group.