Why high-flying Justin Gaethje has a rather conservative approach to life out of the cage -

Based on what he has shown during an eight-year career as a mixed martial artist. Based on a record that features 19 intense finishes in 21 wins. Based on a style that has produced performance post-fight bonuses in each of his six bouts with the UFC. Based on the sheer violence Justin Gaethje unloads on every opponent he faces, the 30-year-old lightweight’s favorite pastime may not be the one you imagine.

Gaethje golfs noticeably different than he fights: The conservative approach is best. Hit it straight, about 220 yards off the tee, and rack up greens in regulation. This is the equivalent of points fighting, and the contrast jumps out for an athlete who likens his connection to combat sports fans like the one Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell maintained in his prime.

“I see myself as a special fighter nowadays,” the UFC contender said several weeks after his latest victory, an opening-round destruction of Donald Cerrone. “I’m old school. I bring what made the oldest fan of the UFC fall in love with the sport. I bring that into the cage. Every time I walk into the arena, I can feel the intensity of the crowd, the intensity of the moment. That’s special. That’s not something many people have been able to do.

“I was raised a certain way. I’ve done this since I was 4. I know nothing else. This just happens to be a way to make money, and I’m doing it. And I’m good at it. I never knew. I never got in a street fight. I’m just super athletic. I played every sport — swim team, soccer, baseball, football, wrestling. My whole life, I just had a practice to go to. Every day. Since I was 4. And I went. I knew nothing else. I didn’t even know what I was doing. Now I’m here. It’s fucking crazy, and I love it.”

Gaethje arrived in the UFC in 2017, a whirlwind of fists and feet. Relentless. Then he lost for the first time in his career. And for the second. The results required reflection. A discussion between him and his trainer Trevor Wittman. An understanding what worked and what didn’t about a style of competing that he had grown “very comfortable” with after it was instilled in him during his earliest days as a wrestler.

Critics wondered what a measured, thoughtful Gaethje would fight like. If a man from a mining town in tiny Safford, Ariz., was going to accomplish what he set out to do, it seemed like he had to back off a bit and analyze situations rather than press for a finish like he was the only person alive who could foil a criminal mastermind’s plot to blow up the world and there was only 10 seconds left on a ticking clock.

For his next high-wire act in the cage, Gaethje (21-2) wants the man who is unanimously considered the best right now: UFC champion Khabib Nurmagomedov (28-0).

“I feel like I’ve earned that,” he said. “I feel like I’ve earned the right to say that at least.”

The lightweights share the same representation, Ali Abdelaziz’s Dominance MMA, and Gaethje said he has been in his manager’s ear everyday pushing for the fight.

“I have full confidence and trust in Ali as a professional to do what’s in the best interest of both of us and look at it selectively,” Gaethje said. “I’m going to fight Khabib next. We’ll see.”

Justin Gaethje celebrates after his main-event victory over Donald Cerrone in September. (Jeff Bottari / Zuffa)

This is not a life he set out for, but it is one he embraced.

“I swear to God I never planned on fighting,” he said. “I had no idea this was an option in the slightest. I just started. I thought it looked cool as shit. I’m sure that’s similar for so many guys in here. This is a very very different and unique than most things. It’s the most exciting sport in the world.”

Gaethje’s parents have been married for 38 years. Both sets of his grandparents for more than 50. His dad just retired from 35 years of work, a teacher and volunteer who takes time to travel with kids to Washington D.C. without being paid for his time. His mother has been in the U.S. Postal Service for 34 years. These are the people who kept him grounded and focused on what’s actually important.

Gaethje believes stability is the most important thing an athlete can have, and in his estimation no fighter ever actually claims to be stable. The fragility of their reality sticks with him. Healthy today. Blown out knee tomorrow. Then what?

“Most of us have zero skills. We’re sitting like we got all these opportunities, but if it goes away we have no opportunity,” he said. “So if I can stay grounded and be OK with that life, then I’ll be fine forever.

“A life earned is a life worth living,” he likes to say. “I feel lucky in a way. I have earned where I’m at right now. But this is a very unique situation, the one I’m in.

“I’m from a small place, and I get to prove that I’m the best in the whole world. We’re all from somewhere. What separates you from that? That’s the amount of time I’ve put in toward working for one goal, and that’s to be the best at wrestling, which turns out to be the best combat athlete.”

This is why Gaethje the golfer doesn’t spend time at the driving range practicing his swing, chipping or putting. If he’s training, it’s with the aim of being a better fighter, and in this way he declared himself lucky to have the almost undivided attention of his trainer.

“Right now I got the best coach in the world to myself,” he said. “I’m very spoiled. It’s a unique situation.”

But Gaethje noted that he “can’t wait to retire from this because golf is my favorite sport in the world. Golf is one of the most mentally challenging games there is, and it’s one of the fucking dumbest games because the harder you try, the worse you do.”

Trying a little less?

There is wisdom here for one of the most unique fighters currently competing at the highest level.

“That makes no sense, and the craziest thing I’m starting to realize is that it’s also the case in the octagon,” he said. “I’ve been trying a little less and doing a little better just focusing on what I need to. The mechanics, the basics, and the things you can control, which is really important in golf and fighting.”

In his downtime, which is most of the time, Gaethje spends weekends around Colorado golfing with a group of 16 friends. He started playing with his dad when he was 5 and has always relied on his athleticism to make his away around the course without looking foolish. He has never taken lessons because he doesn’t have the patience for them. Recently, though, he shot an 82, which was good enough for the best round of his life. One of the best things about golf is it requires players to think positively. Focusing on where you want the ball to land as opposed to thinking about avoiding trouble is fundamental to the game.

Gaethje sees the same equation as necessary for life.

“The secret is just waking up every day and working toward a goal,” he said. “You have to live it every day.”

(Top photo of Justin Gaethje’s UFC debut: Brandon Magnus / Zuffa)

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