Justin
Gaethje realized he had no money to spend just as he was about
to celebrate his first decent paycheck.
Gaethje fought on television for the first time in 2013 under the
World Series of Fighting banner. He was supposed to earn
$8,000, but was mistakenly paid $10,000. Gaethje went to New York
City to celebrate with his family. However, he realized his bank
account was frozen due to the payment error when he went to the
ATM, leaving him essentially penniless.
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Justin Gaethje recalls going broke early in his career before
beating Ilia Topuria for the UFC title
Gaethje says he endured an “absolutely terrible” Sunday following
his bank account getting frozen. He recalls feeling rich and
spending his first paycheck within a month. “The Highlight” didn’t
buy anything fancy, spending his money almost entirely on food
instead and claims this cycle repeated over and over again.
Now one of the most successful athletes in the sport, the
Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight titleholder claims
he’s yet to touch his paycheck from his historic title-winning
effort against Ilia
Topuria at
UFC Freedom 250.
“First time I fought on TV, World Series of Fighting, I was
supposed to get paid $4k/4k [show/win], and they accidentally paid
me $5k/5k. It was a Saturday night and they gave me a $10,000
check,” Gaethje told UFC Hall of Famer Demetrious
Johnson. “I had maybe 80 cents in my account. We went to New
York City; I took my family; we had never been before. On Sunday, I
went to the ATM, put it in and they froze my account and I had zero
dollars in New York City until Monday morning. So that day was
absolutely terrible. But then I thought I was rich for life, blew
it in one month. Did it again, thought I was rich, went broke, did
it many times. I didn’t buy anything; I just bought food. Life was
so easy back then… My last paycheck, I haven’t touched it.”