Justin Gaethje reveals the real reason he doesn’t wrestle more in the octagon

Justin Gaethje recently explained why he doesn't wrestle as much as he could in his fights. While Gaethje admitted that he could've wrestled more in the initial stages of his MMA career, he pointed out one crucial difference between wrestling in college and in the octagon.

Gaethje is among the most famous personalities on the UFC roster and is known for his thunderous striking skills. Intriguingly, the American fighter's journey in combat sports began with NCAA D1 wrestling at the University of Northern Colorado, where he was inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame in 2020 for his achievements in the sport.

Given his impressive wrestling pedigree, many have wondered why 'The Highlight' didn't use his wrestling skills more often in the cage. In a recent video shared to his socials, Gaethje explained why and said:

"The fact that I come from wrestling and don't use it as much as you would think. Probably a good criticism because I could have tried to implement it more earlier in my career. Coming from a wrestler and never being a striker in any way, I fell in love with that part of it. I was always the best [in wrestling] at stopping people from taking me down."

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He continued:

"Another point is that there are seven-minute college wrestling matches. Now we're taking 25-minute [MMA] matches. I could never even walk off the mat after seven minutes, so I'm not going to get tired in seven minutes and then get my a** beat because I tried to wrestle. I'll never lose like that."

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Justin Gaethje names the "scariest fight" of his UFC career

Justin Gaethje recently named the "scariest fighter" he's ever faced in the UFC octagon. The striking savant named Edson Barboza as the fighter who scared him the most and recalled watching the Brazilian's fights as a kid.

In a video shared to his socials, Gaethje recalled watching Barboza knocking out his opponents and telling his friends that he'd fight the Brazilian one day. He said:

"I would say Edson Barboza... When I was a kid, you know, I was just a fan of the sport. You'd see people get to sleep. I've seen him do it multiple times. It's hard not to have those thoughts in the back of your mind, you know, his leg kicks, his body kicks."

He continued:

"I remember telling my friends when I was playing poker with them that I was gonna fight him one day, before I was in the UFC, and they told me I was full of sh*t, and then I was fighting him, and I was like, here we go. Yeah, when I fought Edson Barboza, I was a little bit scared."

Gaethje notably beat Barboza via first-round knockout at UFC Philadelphia in March 2019.

Edited by Nishant Zende.