Justin Gaethje’s 2026 is officially over. After going through two absolute wars this year lasting nine 5-minute rounds, ‘The Highlight’ isn’t even thinking about stepping back into the Octagon anytime soon. In his latest interview, the UFC lightweight champion has revealed that the injuries piling up from those fights have forced him to shut down any plans of fighting again until 2027.

Speaking with Demetrious Johnson on his YouTube channel, Justin Gaethje opened up about the damage he’s dealing with and made it clear that there’s still a whole lot of work to be done before a UFC comeback is even on the table.

“I fought twice this year,” he explained. “I have a deep bone bruise in my knee. I can’t punch with my hand still. So I really need to recover. And so I know for a fact I will not be fighting again this year.”

At 37, Justin Gaethje has more than earned the chance to park himself on the sidelines for a while. ‘The Highlight’ went through an absolute five-round war with Paddy Pimblett in January, then somehow followed it up by pulling off the biggest upset of his career with a fourth-round TKO against Ilia Topuria at UFC Freedom 250 in June.

And while Gaethje walked away with his hand raised on both occasions, there was no escaping the damage that came with it. Two wins, two wars, and a whole lot of mileage added to the body.

However, despite all the punishment, ‘The Highlight’ actually believes the Ilia Topuria fight was the best performance of his entire career.

“I do know I just performed better than I’ve ever performed,” he continued. “And, you know, statistically, that shouldn’t have happened. The math doesn’t work, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.”

For now, though, ‘The Highlight’ isn’t worried about squeezing another fight onto the calendar. The lightweight kingpin is putting all his energy into getting healthy again, and considering the miles he’s already put on his body, that might be the smartest move he can make.

But there’s another conversation lurking in the background: retirement.

Plenty have argued that ‘The Highlight’ should’ve simply called it a career after UFC Freedom 250. And honestly, it’s hard to blame them. He won the undisputed lightweight title, did it against Ilia Topuria, and pulled it off at the White House. If you were writing a Hollywood ending for ‘The Highlight,’ you’d probably struggle to come up with anything better.

But if you thought the retirement talk was just coming from fans, well… it gets a lot more interesting as even Justin Gaethje’s mom thinks he’s done enough and needs to retire.

During an appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience, Vice President JD Vance recalled running into Justin Gaethje and his mother when the UFC star returned to the White House for July 4. Vance asked the obvious question: was Gaethje finally done fighting? ‘The Highlight’ hesitated. His mom, apparently, did not.

“We saw Gaethje at the White House a couple of weeks ago,” Vance said.
“I asked him, ‘Are you done fighting?’ He kind of hesitated a little bit and then I think it was his mom in the Oval Office with him, and she was like, ‘Yes.'”

So, is the inevitable coming anytime soon?

Well, ‘The Highlight’ knows that when the time comes, he confirmed that he probably shouldn’t be the only one deciding whether it’s time to walk away.

“I have to believe that I’m capable and at all times. And when I’m not, I won’t understand and I won’t be aware,” he continued. “Only the people around me will be aware. And so, I really rely on them and lean on them to help me through this choice.

“I think it’s a big choice. But I do think that I am a business. I do think that I need to approach this as a business and a business mindset. And I think I need to put pros and cons. I need to have different conversations. I need to see what life looks like on both sides. And so, you know, I haven’t made a decision. I don’t know right now.”

That means now there’s no debate about what comes next: Justin Gaethje is done for 2026. But he will definitely be coming back in 2027. That gives the promotion plenty of time to figure out what it wants to do with the lightweight title picture.

Arman Tsarukyan and Mauricio Ruffy are set to throw down at UFC 331, and the winner should put themselves right in the mix for a shot at the title down the line. With ‘The Highlight’ on the shelf, that fight suddenly carries even more weight.

As for Ilia Topuria, Justin Gaethje has suggested that an immediate rematch with ‘El Matador’ is highly unlikely, or at least that’s what his gut tells him.

“Ultimately the UFC makes the decision on who I’m going to fight next,” Gaethje said. “I guess if I’m not fighting until next year, [Topuria is] probably not going to fight until next year, too, seeing as he’s still recovering from some things. I don’t think that’s my next fight, in my gut.”

But if you ask Dana White, Ilia Topuria still seems to be a massive option for Justin Gaethje.

Dana White names Justin Gaethje as a good rematch option for Ilia Topuria’s return

Ilia Topuria has no shortage of big-name options waiting for him, and Dana White is practically salivating at the possibilities. While many inside the UFC believe an immediate rematch with Justin Gaethje could be on the table, the head honcho also has another blockbuster matchup he clearly wouldn’t mind making: Topuria vs. Paddy Pimblett.

The head honcho recently appeared on The Jim Rome Show, and, naturally, the conversation turned to Ilia Topuria after the former lightweight champ dropped a few hints about his comeback.

Nothing has been made official just yet, but Dana White confirmed the UFC is still in contact with ‘El Matador’ and, more importantly, believes Topuria is ready to get back in there.

“We don’t have him on the schedule right now, but listen, Topuria’s ready to fight,” White said. “We’re ready for him.”

Then came the obvious question: if Dana White had to choose, would he rather see Ilia Topuria run it back with Justin Gaethje or finally settle the score with Paddy Pimblett?

“Both sound good to me,” he replied. “They’re both great. We don’t lose with any one of those fights; they’re both great.

“Obviously, the rematch with Gaethje is incredible. A Paddy Pimblett fight is amazing with as bad as those two hate each other.”

That leaves the UFC with a pretty nice problem to have: too many massive fights, not enough spots on the calendar. Ilia Topuria suffered the first loss of his career against Gaethje at UFC Freedom 250, but that loss clearly hasn’t taken the fire out of ‘El Matador.’

In fact, Topuria has made it known that he’s still hungry, and it seems like Dana White is seriously considering throwing him straight back into the title picture.

There’s just one problem: Justin Gaethje hasn’t exactly been sold on the idea of an immediate rematch.

“I would say definitely not a rematch,” Gaethje said on the Paramount+ broadcast after unifying the lightweight titles in June. “I mean, I made him quit on the stool; I was winning three rounds to one. In any election, that’s a domination.

“I don’t wanna say anything bad about this guy; he was a world champion, but he is in the hospital right now, and I’m not.”

So, it looks like Justin Gaethje’s stance could throw a wrench into the matchmaking, but Dana White’s comments make one thing pretty clear: the UFC has zero doubts about the money and madness that would come with running this fight back.

If ‘The Highlight’ eventually gives the green light, the UFC has a ready-made championship blockbuster sitting right there. But if the 37-year-old sticks to his guns, Paddy Pimblett is more than happy to wait in the wings for the grudge match fans have been asking for years.

So now it might not be a question of who Ilia Topuria fights next, but which massive fight the UFC decides to pull the trigger on first.