Justin Gaethje
“The Highlight”
Justin Gaethje is ranked 3rd of 506 lightweights by the First Light Rating, and the UFC’s lightweight champion.
- FLRFirst Light Ratingmeasure of true skill
- 2,0933rd of 506 · Lightweight
- FLIFirst Light Indexfame compared to skill
- +0.53Fame ahead of skill
- Career phase
- PrimeCareer-best FLR 2,113, 31 Dec 2016
- Record
- 28–5Pro
Fame against skill.
Every fighter with an FLI, by skill and fame. Hover a dot for the fighter; click to open their page. The dashed curve is the fame their skill predicts: above it, a fighter is more famous than their skill; below it, better than their fame.
Skill and attention.
Attention is drawn at the skill level its fame matches: above the skill line, more famous than skilled. Shaded: where the most similar careers went next.
Recent fights.
| Date | Fight | FLR |
|---|---|---|
| 14 Jun 2026 | Won vs Ilia Topuria TitleUFC White House - Freedom 250: Topuria vs. Gaethje · TKO (Corner Stoppage), R4 | +20 |
| 24 Jan 2026 | Won vs Paddy Pimblett TitleUFC 324 - Gaethje vs. Pimblett · Decision (Unanimous), R5 | +9 |
| 8 Mar 2025 | Won vs Rafael FizievUFC 313 - Pereira vs. Ankalaev · Decision (Unanimous), R3 | +2 |
| 13 Apr 2024 | Lost to Max Holloway TitleUFC 300 - Pereira vs. Hill · KO (Punch), R5 | −27 |
| 29 Jul 2023 | Won vs Dustin PoirierUFC 291 - Poirier vs. Gaethje 2 · KO (Head Kick), R2 | +21 |
| 18 Mar 2023 | Won vs Rafael FizievUFC 286 - Edwards vs. Usman 3 · Decision (Majority), R3 | −1 |
| 7 May 2022 | Lost to Charles Oliveira TitleUFC 274 - Oliveira vs. Gaethje · Submission (Rear-Naked Choke), R1 | −34 |
| 6 Nov 2021 | Won vs Michael ChandlerUFC 268 - Usman vs. Covington 2 · Decision (Unanimous), R3 | +17 |
| 24 Oct 2020 | Lost to Khabib Nurmagomedov TitleUFC 254 - Nurmagomedov vs. Gaethje · Technical Submission (Triangle Choke), R2 | −17 |
| 9 May 2020 | Won vs Tony Ferguson TitleUFC 249 - Ferguson vs. Gaethje · TKO (Punch), R5 | +6 |
| 14 Sept 2019 | Won vs Donald CerroneUFC Fight Night 158 - Cowboy vs. Gaethje · TKO (Punches), R1 | +26 |
| 30 Mar 2019 | Won vs Edson BarbozaUFC on ESPN 2 - Barboza vs. Gaethje · KO (Punch), R1 | +24 |
FLR is the First Light Rating points the fight earned or cost them.
How it is measured.
Data Credit: First Light Observatory.
How these numbers are made.
First Light may hold interests in athletes covered by the Index.