Justin Gaethje is less than a month away from facing Paddy Pimblett at UFC 324. This time, the stakes feel even higher for ‘The Highlight’, as he prepares to fight for an interim title once again after first winning the belt by defeating Tony Ferguson at UFC 249. With so much glory on the line, the Arizona native would normally be expected to adopt a more cautious approach in training. But judging by Gaethje’s latest training video, Dana White might not be too pleased with what he sees.

Showcasing his preparation for the Liverpudlian, the former interim lightweight champion has been uploading regular training videos on his YouTube channel under the title Art of Violence. In one of those episodes, Gaethje was seen playing a game with his teammates, where they chased balls placed on the ground, narrowly avoiding a head clash that could have jeopardized his UFC 324 fight. 

Justin Gaethje dodges head injury scare during training 

“Justin Gaethje narrowly avoids a head injury while playing a game during training.” Popular social media page, Red Corner MMA, posted a snippet from the video on X. 

If Justin Gaethje had actually suffered an unfortunate accident because of this game, Dana White would have every reason to be furious. For the unversed, the UFC head honcho previously blasted Merab Dvalishvili as “stupid” after ‘The Machine’ uploaded a footage of himself suffering a nasty cut ahead of his fight against Sean O’Malley at UFC 306. So it’s safe to say White would have reacted the same way in Gaethje’s case. In fact, the UFC CEO could have taken things even further with his punishment.

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Remember UFC 311? Arman Tsarukyan withdrew from his fight against Islam Makhachev due to back pain, leading to Renato Moicano stepping in as a replacement. That one fallout seems to have cost Tsarukyan dearly, as White has yet to give the Armenian a title shot despite him being the number one contender. So Gaethje was extremely lucky that no injury occurred, and his fight against Paddy Pimblett remains intact.

That said, as ‘The Highlight’ gears up to perform in one of the biggest fights of his career on the first Paramount+ CBS card, predictions are flying in. And there is already some serious backing building behind Gaethje to come out on top in this one. 

Urijah Faber Discusses Key Factors in Gaethje vs Pimblett

The UFC is all set to kick off the new year with a banger main event at UFC 324, as Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett prepare to bring violence to the crowd. However, while fans are fully aware of the power and threat ‘The Highlight’ brings into the Octagon, the majority of the votes are surprisingly going toward ‘The Baddy’. Why? Many believe the Englishman’s drastically improved grappling could be enough to get the better of the Arizona slugger. But according to Urijah Faber, Gaethje has far more than just a puncher’s chance.

“I gotta go with Gaethje. I feel like he’s the one that enjoys a knockdown, drag-out more than the other guy. Not that Paddy Pimblett doesn’t love to fight. It’s just Gaethje loves to actually get down and throw fist for fist. And he’s also got the Division I wrestling to kind of negate some of the biggest skill sets of Paddy. Paddy is a very dominant grappler when it comes to submissions and being aggressive with that. I think Gaethje has the tools to keep it where he wants, and I think that’s going to give him an edge.” Faber told Helen Yee.

Now, it’s definitely an interesting take. Justin Gaethje was a Division I wrestler from the University of Colorado, even though we’ve rarely seen him use that skill set offensively in his UFC run. That’s why it would be fascinating to see how ‘The Highlight’ actually taps into that background to counter Paddy Pimblett’s grappling, which looked highly impressive against Michael Chandler at UFC 314.

That said, as we inch closer to witnessing the first Paramount+ headliner, who do you think walks away with the interim belt and a future shot at Ilia Topuria? Let us know in the comments section below.