Justin Gaethje celebrates his win over challenger Luis Firmino (not shown) after their World Series of Fighting lightweight championship fight at The Theater at Madison Square Garden on December 31, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Ed Mulholland/Getty Images)
Justin Gaethje is one of the rising stars in the UFC and here is all you need to know about his net worth, salary, record and more
Justin Gaethje is one of the big performers in a stacked Lightweight division of the UFC.
The 31-year-old American from Safford, Arizona has a wrestling pedigree which has helped him to some great wins in the world of MMA. Gaethje is also a terrific brawler and has won a few fights via knockout too.
His shining moment in the UFC came at UFC 249. Gaethje defeated Tony Ferguson to win the Interim UFC Lightweight title in a dominating performance.
Gaethje spent time working in a Morenci mine before attending college. The American was a natural athlete as he began wrestling at the age of four and also took up wrestling in college and high school.
Gaethje was accepted into the NCAA Division I program at the University of Northern Colorado. The American also honed his skills during college and even wrestled with UFC stars while growing up.
Gaethje’s amateur MMA career began during his college days and he was 7-0 before taking up his first professional fight.
In his MMA debut, Gaethje defeated Kevin Croom at ROF 41: Bragging rights and was 7-0 in two promotions combined before moving to the World Series of Fighting promotion.
Gaethje continued dominating this promotion as he quickly racked up the wins and became the WSOF Lightweight title against Richard Patishnock at WSOF 8.
Gaethje was 17-0 in his MMA career before trying his luck in the UFC.
Gaethje vacated his WSOF title to join the UFC in 2017 and made his debut in The Ultimate Fighter: Redemption Finale. He defeated Michael Johnson in his debut fight but lost the next one to Eddie Alvarez.
Gaethje lost the next fight to Dustin Poirier too before picking it up in the UFC. He recorded consecutive wins over James Vick, Edson Barboza and Donald Cerrone before going up against Ferguson.
This was Gaethje’s time to shine as he defeated Ferguson in a dominating display. The win took his UFC record to 5-2 and his overall MMA record to 22 wins and two losses.
The 31-year-old’s mother, Carolina was a postmaster while his father, John Ray Gaethje, was a copper miner who retired in 2019.
Justin has two sisters and a twin brother who also worked at the Morenci mine where their father worked. Justin also spent a year at the mine and worked his socks off before attending college.
The win at UFC 249 was one of the big moments for Justin Gaethje and that earned him a great salary and increased his net worth too.
UFC stars are paid mostly based on the number of fights on their contracts and are handed bonuses depending on performances.
Gaethje made $350,000 alone from the win over Ferguson at UFC 249. however, he wasn’t the highest-paid athlete.
The American was also handed a bonus of $100,000 for the Performance of the Night in the win.
This was his biggest takeaway from a UFC fight, and his salary should increase with more matches under his belt.
Gaethje’s net worth is estimated to be around $3million, and this will also increase further as he keeps making more appearances.
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