Justin Gaethje threw his interim lightweight belt on the floor after winning it at UFC 249. He told Joe Rogan in the cage that he would wait for the real one. ‘The Highlight’s habit of looking past the present is on display again with his UFC 324 bout against Paddy Pimblett almost at the doorstep.

Gaethje is already peeking around the corner at Max Holloway and the BMF belt. With the UFC White House card hovering on the calendar like a once-in-a-lifetime spectacle, Gaethje isn’t shy about what he wants next. The question is whether he’ll get there at all, because standing in his way is the Scouser who thinks the blueprint to beat him is already written.

Justin Gaethje lays out post-UFC 324 White House plan

Speaking to UFC on TNT in a clip shared by Red Corner MMA on X, Gaethje was asked about the upcoming BMF clash between Charles Oliveira and Max Holloway. “Yeah, I love it,” Gaethje said. Then he laid out the dream scenario. “I hope Max wins. I hope Ilia goes up, and then I can fight Max on the White House card and take the BMF belt and the championship.”

The irony, of course, is that Holloway already knocked him out cold at UFC 300 in one of the most jaw-dropping finishes the sport has ever seen. With ten seconds left, Holloway pointed to the canvas, invited Gaethje to trade, and then planted him face-first with a right hand at 4:59 of the fifth round. Yet, Max was snubbed for the interim title fight.

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But Gaethje doesn’t sound haunted by it. He sounds motivated. And in his mind, the path back to Holloway runs through the T-Mobile Arena on January 24. That’s where Paddy Pimblett enters the picture, carrying a very different kind of confidence.

Pimblett believes Gaethje is beatable, and that he doesn’t even need to wrestle to prove it. In his own interview with TNT Sports, Pimblett was asked about keeping the fight standing, despite Gaethje’s reputation as one of the most dangerous punchers in MMA history. His response flipped expectations.

“I’ll keep it on the feet with him,” Pimblett said. “There’s the blueprint there to beat him, Max done it. Everyone underestimates my striking, and everyone thinks I’m just going to come in and I’m going to take him down, and I’m not.”

That’s a bold stance against a man who has knocked out Dustin Poirier, James Vick, Edson Barboza, Michael Johnson, and Donald Cerrone. But Pimblett doubled down by pointing to recent history. “He had an absolute war with Chandler, and I pieced Chandler up… I know MMA math doesn’t work, but you’ll see come Jan. 24, when we have a perfect game plan, and we finish him within three.”

On paper, at least, this is easier said than done. Gaethje is a former Division I All-American wrestler with elite takedown defense, historically using it to force brawls on his terms. Pimblett, meanwhile, has built his 7–0 UFC run on grappling chaos, submissions, scrambles, and suffocating pressure. He finished Bobby ‘King’ Green on the mat. Even against Michael Chandler, he leaned on wrestling when things got hairy.

So where does reality sit between ambition and danger? Justin Gaethje is chasing legacy, still swinging for moments that define eras. ‘The Baddy’ is chasing validation, determined to prove he’s more than hype and haircuts. And according to Gaethje’s coach, the future hinges on what happens inside the Octagon at UFC 324!

Gaethje’s coach, Trevor Wittman, claims UFC 324 is their “last run” if they lose

While fans debate BMF rematches and White House spectacles, Trevor Wittman is focused on something far less romantic: time and health.  According to him, their UFC 324 run ends with either the crown or a curtain call.

Speaking to ESPN MMA, Gaethje’s longtime coach stripped away the noise and delivered a blunt assessment of where things stand. “This is our last run. If we don’t win this fight, we’re not going on,” Wittman said.

That statement reframes everything, doesn’t it? Suddenly, this isn’t Gaethje looking past Paddy Pimblett. It’s Gaethje betting everything on himself one last time.

Wittman made it clear that the plan isn’t to hang around for novelty bouts or late-career paydays, “We’re not gonna go out there and be a gatekeeper and look at money fights… He would fight over and over and over, but he knows he’s gotta be there for the family and take care of his health… He’s 37 years old, and we want to be smart. We’re not gonna be the guy out there trying to fight for money and trying to chase cash for trauma.”

That line, “cash for trauma,” cuts through everything. Justin Gaethje has already paid plenty. He had two failed title bids: a submission loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov in 2020 and another to Charles Oliveira in 2022. Since then, he’s gone 3–1 against elite competition, but the damage adds up. Every war leaves a mark. If ‘The Highlight’ wins, the road opens again to belts, rematches, maybe even the White House dream. If he loses? According to the people closest to him, that’s it.