Justin Gaethje Not Considering Himself Champion: ‘I Can’t Become Complacent’

Justin Gaethje won’t consider himself a real champion until he defeats Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Gaethje won the interim lightweight title following his impressive fifth-round TKO win over Tony Ferguson in the UFC 249 headliner last night. It not only meant that he was a UFC champion for the first time, but would also now get the opportunity to face Nurmagomedov in a title unification fight later this year.

That said, he isn’t putting too much stock into the interim belt.

After all, he took it off and laid it on the ground shortly after UFC president Dana White wrapped it around his waist claiming he was waiting for the real one. That mindset, he believes, will ultimately help him if he is to get past Nurmagomedov.

“It’s good, it feels great, (but) that’s the competitor in me and that’s the mindset I have to have to face the challenge that is Khabib,” Gaethje said in the post-fight press conference (via MMA Junkie). “I can’t think of myself as the champion because for one I’m not and for two Khabib is still there.

“Again, I can’t become complacent. People think they’re unbeatable, that’s what will kill you in this sport. I’m human, if you shake my brain I will go to sleep and he [Ferguson] almost did at the end of the second (round), but the good thing is that I’m fighting humans, so I just perform.”

Gaethje is now on a four-fight winning streak with finishes in each of them. We’ll now get to see if he can make it five against “The Eagle” later this year.

What do you make of Gaethje’s comments?