Justin Gaethje was involved in what many feel should be the Fight of the Year against Max Holloway on UFC 300. Even though Gaethje got knocked out in the last ten seconds of the bout, the heart and warrior spirit he showed in the BMF title bout has yet again proven why he is among the most beloved and toughest fighters in the Dana White-led promotion.

”The Human Highlight,’ of course, lost his BMF title to ‘Blessed’ and to make matters worse, got knocked out cold. While Gaethje is always down to go to war and entertain the fans, he has thankfully gone on somewhat of a hiatus to give his brain the chance to recover from the punishment. But the Arizona native hasn’t just been sitting on a couch and has been busy with other sporting pursuits. Speaking to ‘MMAFighting.com’ in an interview, he revealed exactly what went through his mind after he regained consciousness after the famous knockout. Unsurprisingly, it was golf, something the former BMF champ has been doing ever since.

“Anything can happen. I really do not know, I have not thought about it too much. I for knocked out, woke up, and was like ‘I wanna golf.’ And I’ve been golfing everyday since,” he said.

Gaethje absolutely loves golf and has spoken repeatedly about his love for the sport. In fact, the 35-year-old is so taken with the sport that he started his own annual golf tournament to not only indulge his deep affection for the sport but also to raise awareness and donations for the St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital. While these comments and his break from fighting may have made some worried he may be close to calling it quits, something that ‘The Human Highlight’ addressed in the same interview.

Justin Gaethje on retirement plans

Justin Gaethje has no plans of retiring from fighting. And why would he? Like all other fighters, he wants to become a UFC champion. Before his loss to Holloway, he was quite close to fighting for the title, with lightweight champ Islam Makhachev having said in early 2024 that he wanted to face him on UFC 302.

After his loss, however, he has been knocked out from title contention temporarily and will need to fight at least one top-five ranked 155-pounder before he can regain his place in the division. And the lightweight seemingly plans on doing exactly that. “You know, I’ve worked so hard for so long to be here. To be in front of the crowd, and I love to perform, and I’m not ready [yet] to give that up,” Gaethje added.

And fans, too, want to see the former BMF champ back in action. After all, he is still one of the most dangerous and exciting men in the entire sport. And with the six-month break that he had announced after UFC nearly coming to an end, fans are expecting him to be featured on one of the latter cards of this year or one of the early 2025 cards. Who would you like to see Gaethje fight next?