Gaethje reveals he never lost faith despite three title-fight setbacks before UFC Freedom 250 triumph

Justin Gaethje has revealed he never stopped believing he would become undisputed UFC lightweight champion, even after suffering three high-profile defeats in title and near-title bouts that threatened to end his pursuit of the belt for good.

Gaethje finally claimed undisputed gold at UFC Freedom 250 at the White House in Washington, D.C., defeating Ilia Topuria in what was widely regarded as a major upset. The path to victory was far from straightforward — Gaethje was nearly finished by a body shot in the second round before rallying to stop Topuria and unify the lightweight title.

Speaking on the “What Hones You” podcast alongside his coach Trevor Wittman, Gaethje reflected candidly on the doubt that surrounded him after back-to-back submission losses to Khabib Nurmagomedov and Charles Oliveira in championship fights, followed by a BMF title defeat by knockout to Max Holloway. “I mean, it doesn’t sound practical to say… I never thought that it was gone,” Gaethje said. “Because going through those two fights, and then the Max Holloway fight after that, it made it real difficult.”

The Holloway loss proved a particularly damaging moment for Gaethje’s championship timeline. He had entered that fight on a winning streak that included a knockout of Dustin Poirier, with a title shot seemingly next in line. “Before the Max fight, I was on a two or three-fight winning streak. I had knocked out Dustin Poirier. I was definitely planning on fighting for the belt next,” he recalled. “That’s when Topuria came up to lightweight, and they made that fight. So I was like, sh*t, that kind of throws a wrench in everything.”

Gaethje rebuilt his contendership with a second win over Rafael Fiziev before defeating Paddy Pimblett for the interim lightweight title, setting up the unification bout against Topuria at UFC Freedom 250. A corner stoppage handed Gaethje the win and, with it, the undisputed championship he had chased across years of setbacks.

“I never really lost hope,” Gaethje said. “I always knew that I was performing better than I had; I knew that my body still felt as good as it ever did. I knew that this sport was crazy, and I just had to put wins together. And, yeah, that was the mindset.”