Trevor Wittman details Justin Gaethje’s prep for UFC 324 vs. Paddy Pimblett | ESPN MMA

What is discussed, and when

1. 0:00 – 5:00: UFC 324, Brett Okamoto, Onyx Gym, Trevor Whitman
2. 20:00 – 24:29: Art of Violence

Notable quotes from "Trevor Wittman details Justin Gaethje’s prep for UFC 324 vs. Paddy Pimblett | ESPN MMA"

• January 2026. We've had a long time off between fights, but we got a good one coming up at UFC 324 between Justin Gate and Patty Pimlet. And I am joined by one of the smartest…

  about UFC 324 · at 0:02

• Again, if you haven't checked it out, Art of Violence on Justin Gates's YouTube channel. Luke is one of the funniest men on the internet and you guys are enjoying yourself in camp and I'm looking forward to.

  about Art of Violence · at 23:53

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

• Justin Gaethje — Person · 6 mentions
• Patty Pimblett — Person · 4 mentions
• Brett Okamoto — Person · 1 mention · first at 0:00
  What's up, guys? Brett Okamoto. It is January 2026. We've had a long time off between fights, but we got a good one coming up at UFC 324 between Justin Gate and Patty Pimlet. And I am joined by one.
• Trevor Whitman — Person · 1 mention · first at 0:15
  Of the smartest, one of the nicest guys in the sport over there in Colorado, Trevor Whitman, who's sitting in his brand new Onyx gym. I've had the pleasure of going over there…

Companies & orgs

• Onyx Gym — Company · 1 mention · first at 0:16
  In the sport over there in Colorado, Trevor Whitman, who's sitting in his brand new Onyx gym. I've had the pleasure of going over there and seeing that thing. It is one of the…

Concepts & topics

• UFC 324 — Concept · 2 mentions · first at 0:06
• Art of Violence — Concept · 1 mention · first at 23:55

Full transcript with timestamps

0:00 What's up, guys? Brett Okamoto. It is January 2026. We've had a long time off between fights, but we got a good one coming up at UFC 324 between Justin Gate and Patty Pimlet. And I am joined by one of the smartest, one of the nicest guys in the sport over there in Colorado, Trevor Whitman, who's sitting in his brand new Onyx gym. I've had the pleasure of going over there and seeing that thing. It is one of the, if not the best, uh, facilities that I've ever seen. So, he's right at home. He's got the setup and he's walking into a vacant lightweight title fight or I'm sorry, interim lightweight title fight, Justin Gai versus Patty Pimlet. Trevor, how you doing? How was the How was the new year?

0:37 How are the holidays? And then how are we feeling a couple weeks out of UFC 324?

0:41 Everything's been great. You know, holiday season was great. you know, stressful for a lot of people, but that's why I love the fight game because you're in camp and you know, that could be very the holidays can be very stressful for a lot of people. And thank God this sport makes us work through holidays and uh we get distracted by the sport and the training. So, I love the holidays, but I also love the grind and uh uh we're in a great position right now. Justin's Justin's feeling great. Uh really excited to watch him go out there and perform. Justin throughout all through all the guys that I've worked with, he's one of the one of the most exciting guys I look forward to watching uh you know, front row. He's he again, it's it every type every time that Justin fights, it's inspirational. And so I always look forward to these events, the way he handles everything.

1:26 He just he's a very unique uh guy and yeah, I'm very excited. Yeah. And your son Terren has been doing a great job of documenting all this and putting it on Gachi's YouTube channel. It's a web series that's been going on. I think it's about four episodes out and you guys will be running it all the way to the fight. And you know, I watched this most recent one and you guys had that little uh get together with the team and the family. And you know, you were talking about uh that you got to enjoy this moment because it's it's not going to last forever. And uh you know, obviously Justin Gate has had a very long career. He's closer to the end than he is to the beginning. Are you feeling that a lot in this camp? I mean, him even, you know, coming out and saying this is his last this is his last chance to go to go get an undisputed title.

2:07 So, you know, I'm not feeling it. I'm just saying it like the whole thing is I want to keep everybody grateful and Justin's a very smart guy. Uh he understands and he's he's the one that uh uh you know, I can have conversations with. A lot of times when you have a conversation with a fighter, I want to have that conversation with a lot of guys because I don't want to break their mentality. Justin's like one of those unbreakable mindsets and you know that the the he's very smart when it comes to you know how his family feels about fighting. Uh he's also very smart when it comes to hey longevity you know all combat sports all contact sports uh bring long-term uh issues and you know the the number one thing is this this is a you first first a hobby second a career and then you got to leverage it and Justin's very smart when it comes to stuff like that. So when we have these conversations as manto man and I'm not

2:55 afraid to speak it out loud like this is our last run. Like Justin's not if if we don't win this fight we're not going on like this is we're not going to go out there and be a gatekeeper and look at look at money fights and like that. It's uh you know he's a goal setter and uh his mentality just like he finished up. I don't know if you watched that video. You might as well go watch it if you haven't. But uh we're in his house and the family's having a dinner and you know I I have that true talk and I'm talking to his family. I'm not talking to him. And you know, it's uh uh the way he ends it. He's like, "It's not over, coach." So that's that's the key to Justin. Justin is very unique. He he he would fight over and over and over, but he knows

3:33 he's got to be there for the family. He's got to be smart and take care of his health and uh but we win this belt. My shoot to the moon type of goal would be let's go out there and and and and repeat defenses. Repeat defenses. Obviously, this is an interimm title fight, so uh we're not the champ yet. So, we'd have to go win that belt next. So, it's one I always say the key to being a champion is one round at a time. One round at a time gets you one fight at a time. Once you get to one fight at a time, then you start to get to the championship level. So, we're we're not overlooking this, but we're honest at it gets to a point where we get we have that that that roadblock. There's no we can't overcome those roadblocks no more.

4:13 You know, he's 37 years old and uh we want to be smart. We're not gonna be the guy out there trying to fight for money and trying to go chase cash uh uh for trauma. And Justin's got that style that he's he's in fights all the time. So, we got to be smart and I care about his health, but I also care about his goals. And he is goal driven and that guy's ready to go out there and and and gather another belt and then uh go out there and and gather the real bet belt after that. Yeah, it's it's it's uh interesting to me because, you know, obviously over the last, you know, nine months he had come out and, you know, people made it sound like it was some like ultimatum that he was making to the UFC. It was more just him answering questions and being honest and he was like, if I don't fight for a belt, I just don't really know why I'd fight, you know, um which always made sense to me. But then I also look at Justin as

4:58 like he's he's not really doesn't strike me as a guy who's going to lose sleep in the retirement if he doesn't win an undisputed championship. So like what is on the line here for for you? Like you know this out from the outside I think a lot of us would be like there's a lot of pressure here. It's a last run whenever you talk about like the last chance at winning something there's like a pressure on it but then he also seems just very comfortable with where he's at and that he could have walked away with had this opportunity not come. So what is like kind of the feel and you know the the significance I guess of the the opportunity here?

5:27 Yeah. So I I I like the way that you said that. Uh this is not a retirement fight. I agree with you. Like when it comes to like retirement fights, I think anybody's going on a retirement fight is gonna win one out of 10 times

5:42 because you're you're already letting go. He's not letting go. He just he was just in his position where we were. We were we were, you know, we had just knocked out four year. We had a title fight. They offered the fight with Max. He didn't want it. Uh pretty much everybody around us, including myself, was like, "Hey, this is an opportunity. Go out there, do your thing." and uh from the the the upper echelon which you know when you're told something it's not never guaranteed we know that but Justin's one of those company company men that he's always done right for the company and for the fans and he's a people fighter like he's he his his goal when he first got with me was like I'm going to make everybody every time I fight when you buy a pay-per-view or you buy a ticket to be in the arena you're going to be so grateful that you bought that ticket and he's done that and he he was in position to fight for title which

6:29 he could have waited three months and then fought for the title and uh he was talked into it. So, and again this is not just the UFC. This is you know the manager Ali myself like this is opportunity if they're not going to pull you back and still get guarantee you the position. These are things that are said behind doors and uh he's a loyal guy. Justin's one of the most loyal guys out there. So I think that you know we even had the conversation that hey if you're going to stand your ground, stand your ground. It's okay. you've already what the the what you've cemented in this sport right now is is something it's okay to walk away with you know but you have to hold to your standards and we had those conversations so that was a lot of guidance and mentorship from myself

7:07 uh on hey stick stick to who you are stick to your value and it wasn't about money it was about hey you know I knew where my position was and uh if you're going to change that on me now Justin's one of those guys like all right you're going to miss out on the highlight you're going to miss out on the guy that's that's been a main main event. Uh pretty much every event that he's been on except for one and the amount of uh uh bonuses he got, he fights for the company and he always has. He's always been great with the company. He's always supported the company. So, I think the company understood that. And again, from the value of what this fight uh of us having an interimm uh title fight, there's a lot of people out there, you know, is this even worthy?

7:46 The whole thing is is we all know this industry from a wrecking standpoint. Uh, Armen, I do think is is the most deserving. Who knows what went on behind the scenes back there. Uh, I don't think this is a favorite of Justin at all. I think this is something that was earned and from the way he fights. Uh, and when he went out there with Max, it was a fun fight. It was a It was a BMF belt. So, was the strategy to go out there and be sharp and precise? No. It was like go out there and give it an entertaining fight. Go out there, have fun. So, that's where, you know, Justin is. If there's a dial bull, he's gonna go out there and do your best like he did with Kabib. Kabib was the better man that night. You know, Kabib said it. I got hit harder than I ever ever did. We won the first round. So, this is uh just one of those placements that I think is very cool to say, "Hey, it's you're in control of your book. You've got to

8:31 write your story. And if it doesn't fit your story, step away from it. Don't get desperate. Don't throw a card. If you throw a card out there, don't go back on it." Like, you know, it's it's he threw the card out there and he was willing to retire. And if people hate him for that, then you still wouldn't hate him once he retired. I'll never forget the conversation with Rashad when he retired. He was going through a you know a tough tough part of his career and he's like man the fans used to love me and I'm like you get to a certain point in your career fans are going to love and hate you. You get that split and then once you retired like dude everybody loves me now it's like crazy and I'm like that's what this sport is like people remember you but but you are in the entertainment business and and and you're going to be out there and you're a character so you have to live that and Justin is one of those guys

9:12 that that he's very smart. He has lots of things set up uh that he's leveraged from building a brand. And uh man, I'm just proud as a coach to see him prosper in life. Like I like like I said uh in that video and again go please watch it. The Justin Gatei uh you'll get this to follow him in his series. I'm so proud of him where he's at. Like I don't care, you know, it's again I I want him to go win this title, but that's we're we're not reaching for Like it's not like we need anything in life. He has the whole thing is do this for you. Do it do it for do it for another a staple in your life. Do it do it to go inspire the world that you know one one of the most inspiring fights was Vulcanowski coming back after a skid you know tomorrow coming back after a threeight skid just so inspirational. That's what fighting is.

10:01 Fighting is in control of yourself. And once you're in control of your mindset and you don't allow things to to to topple on you that's why we do this. You know a belt is only what it is. I have tons of belts on the wall. They're cool, but it doesn't make me who I am. I want to be no different without the belts. They're just they're just a staple and they're they're a time. It's the journey and how many people's lives you changed over the years. And we're all givers. Like, especially on my team, we're family and we want to give to the world and we want to give the value that we're being compensated back to the world. And that equal good business both win. It's a win-win situation and uh it's going to be fun. Well, I mean, I love listening to what you say about the inspirational stuff and usually it's not always the case, but like when you're aspiring people, especially in in sports and athletics, it's when you win when you're

10:50 not supposed to. And I wonder if that is how you guys feel going into this one because uh Justin is the betting underdog. But then I think at the same time, you like look at their resumes and you're like, Justin's accomplished way more than Patty Pilman. There are some people that think Patty Pilman's overrated and he's getting an opportunity that he doesn't believe. So, so there's kind of two combating narratives going on in this one. I mean, you guys have been an underdog before. You've been a favorite before. You know what the difference is? Um, what does this one feel like?

11:14 You know what? Uh, you go back to like like they feel good when you overcome the uh the unthinkable. You know, I go back to like Rose and and Yana when she was undefeated and just beaten everybody. Uh, when she bullied her and and and she had the, you know, Rose dealt with the bus attack. Like that's that's uh and she went over there and overcame uh knockout first round.

11:35 Awesome. That was cool. That was like really cool because it's like, hey, you know, this is this is the fight world. Anything could freaking happen. My favorite part was the second fight where we go out there and beat her for five rounds. It was very similar in the way Lee fight. We go out there and we finished way in the first round who was another unstoppable person. That was cool. But was really cool is to go out there and beat her not just as she beat both of those un unbeatable fighters and then went out there and beat them in two different ways. Knockout first fight and then went out there and beat them in rounds. Mhm.

12:05 And that's that's a stamp when it comes to fighting a guy like like Patty. I never get overwhelmed by this guy. This person's unbeatable or hey, they got all these win these wins in a row. I respect them. And you have to respect them because any person you never know how they show up, what they're going through through their through their life. Some people have something that happened in their life and they're they're helping someone, you know, their one of their their parents is going through the health issue and they need the money.

12:32 It's it's it's all about, you know, what is that tackling fuel and what is going to drive you to that that that mode. So, I don't overthink the opponent. I have to dial in our athlete so we're ready to perform because the whole thing is at this highest level and I you know, you could say, "Do does Patty deserve it? Does does Justin deserve it?" They're they're fighting for the belt. That's what freaking matters. And it's up to who has the best 25 minutes of their life. And we have to perform for 25 minutes against another athlete.

13:01 Styles make fights. That's it's it's the game is a very crazy thing. And it's up to us. We're not fighting Patty. Patty I respect I respect like a lot of people will talk him down and say who have you fought all you know look at all the losses. Everybody says that to me everybody comes up and they're like hey Trevor I don't know if you've seen this but I want to give you some information. You look at his last five fighters like look at the loss to and I'm just like I get it. I I was in a boxing world. That's how we used to gauge hype in the boxing world. The UFC is different. Like you're fighting anybody. Justin got into the UFC and he fight he has not fight someone underneath the top five except for once against Phys who definitely was not number 13 last is a bad dude. One of the most talented guys. So when we go into these types of things, Patty I respect. What do I respect? I I always

13:46 respect consistency. Who's consistent? And who's the one that's coming in and always uh you know everybody's like hey he you know I doubt he's going to win. And you got people that are going against you. When someone comes in and you have so many like he's got a big following but he with that equal big following you have you have equal big following want to see you fail and he overcomes. Doesn't look the part. He's got the chin in the air. He has so many mistakes so many holes but he makes it work and that excites me and I love that. Like like for me it's like I don't care who it is. Like this is fighting.

14:17 It's the the physical piece is so minimal. Absolutely. You got to have the physical piece. But when it comes to high level fighting, it's being intelligent, not making mistakes. And will

14:29 is what wins these fights. When you're in the top five, it's the will. It's, you know, not making a mistake, not pushing the gas too hard, not starting to make mistakes or trying for things or needing things. You can't beat things. You got to be smart. You got to be intelligent. I use the example, if someone breaks into your house, are you going to win that fight if you need to protect your family? Everybody always says yes. And if someone comes into someone's house, you make it real. If they have a gun, you might have to close the gap if it's short range really quick. If they have a knife, you might want to sit back and not get cut. Like, let's read this out, talk to them a little bit. Like, the scenarios are different, but you're not going to make a mistake with your family behind you.

15:03 You're going to make sure that you're not closing your eyes when they cross you. And that's high level fighting. Like, you know, you're not going to overthink the weight, the size, the, you know, how long have they been training? Are they a wrestler? Like, no. You have to be intelligent in the moment, in the present moment. And these camps are fun because you think about stuff and you plant seeds. But it's I respect Patty. I definitely know he's going to come in here and he's had this is the opportunity most fighters dream about fighting for a belt. I know he's going to come out. He's going to be in the best mindset that he that that he can be. He's confident because he bu beat a lot of good guys spectacularly. So I expect the best Patty. The whole thing is it's a moment and it's going to be another moment that uh we go get to go out there and perform and that's all that's all I'm really hoping for with

15:51 Justin is just go out there and perform be you with Patty like because I love the way you put it and earlier on in his career in particular it was a knock on him is that uh yeah he fights like this you know and um he gets away with it but what's going to happen when he gets against better competition I feel like he's he's closed a little bit of that like he's he's he has gotten and tighter and as as that competition has gone up, what what would you say about those holes uh that you mentioned and like are they still there from the very beginning of his career or has he done a lot of work to close them up?

16:22 So where I think he's gotten better obviously the confidence uh uh but chin up is not a bad thing stylistically. He's a Muhammad Ali used to fight with his chin up so greatest the greatest boxers of all time. So he's never a chin chin chin down type of guy. Also being a a taller guy, you you control range. It's a lot harder to hit a guy if they're back. Ian Machado, another guy fights with his chin up, but how he's just so so high level when it comes to striking. It's a distance thing. So, I think he gets away with it. Uh the one thing that really stands out with me is he commits. Some people throw punches and they don't commit.

16:59 Patty commits. So, commitment is everything. Belief is everything, you know. And again, I talked about that someone breaking into your house. You have to be committed. You have to believe in what you're doing. hesitation is what causes so much downfalls. So that's uh again I have the utmost respect. I respect him as a fighter. Uh I'm not going to be the guy that says does he deserve it? Does he not deserve it? You know, jumping from 13 I think it was 13 14 whatever it was up into a position after beating Chandler. He might even been higher than that. But that was a big jump. We don't care about that. Our goals Justin asked for what he he thought he deserved. He knew his value uh on being in a in a title fight.

17:37 thought he earned it and he stuck to his values. So, whoever it is, like obviously the 155 division, the 155 and 70s have always been so great with the level of competition. So, this Patty's he belongs in there and there's so many killers in this division right now. Like, it is a a great division and that's a that's a great thing to get up for and train hard for. So, that I love where we're at and right now we're focused on January 24th and focus on being great for 25 minutes. Uh just a couple more for you man. Thank you so much for the time Trevor is that uh and I this question is kind of one of those where I doubt this is something you guys talk about at all in camp.

18:15 Maybe I'm wrong but I kind of doubt that this is something I mean you've been in the fight game for so long you know what to listen to. You know what to ignore. But what Patty has been out there saying frequently it's and you know in the world we live in you say something and it just it gets thrown up there on a billion different websites is that he intends to stand in this fight. Like he wants to box he wants to trade with. So, I I want to what I want to ask you is why do you think he's saying that? Do you think he means it? You know, you you're very familiar with the psychology of fighters. Um, and do you think that that's that's what will end up happening?

18:45 I mean, why would he not think that with the Chandler fight, you know? I mean, obviously he ended up on top of Ron Pan and finished the fight there, but he did great with Chandler. But Chandler's one of those guys that he fights on the fence very widelegged, burns himself out like Chandler's one of those guys that I respect. I think he's one of the, you know, greatest fighters out there, but he's an excitement first type of fighter. a lot like Jefflin was for a long period of his career. You know, wide stance lifted Patty three or four times in a fight like takes so much freaking energy. Whatever Patty's saying is like whatever he's dreaming and thinking, you know, all power to him.

19:17 We're we're ready for everything. And uh uh we did not go into this fight thinking it's going to be just a striking fight at all. Like Justin is has spent so much time. That's probably the proudest thing I am with Justin is the amount of time that he's put into his grappling because his wrestling is so high level. But it's more of the offensive and positional type of fighting. You know, for so long, I remember when we got stopped by Oliver and I had to have a conversation with everybody on the team like, "Hey, let's Justin is a is a high level guy, one of the best scramblers out there. You have some of the best slams out there, the Rampage Jackson type of slams.

19:48 We're offensive. Justin style is offensive. And to be a champion, you push people back. You have to put people on their heels." Uh I look at this as when we had the the Olive fight, we were defensive. We're like, "Don't get in this position. How do you get out of this position? You can't win fights like that." And uh you you have to win offensively. And Justin's one of those guys that when you when you grapple with him, his ground and pound is so unique. So unique. He hits people with punches at different angles on the ground that are so effective. And it's top game. Like how do you know your top game? And and and how do you know that? Like Patty, I think, is very good uh when it comes to to, you know, dragging people to the floor. I don't think Patty's a great uh uh wrestler. I don't think he's going to go out there and and take Justin down.

20:32 Obviously, he could slip on the mats. Uh he can tie him something really good where the hips are up, but I don't I don't see Patty picking him down. Uh I do uh uh know there's there's danger uh in the grappling and uh I know where where he's great and his striking is really good. It it disrupts people and he throws really hard. So when you throw hard, a lot of people become defensive that they forget about the takedowns or they forget about the that that the body clinches and tying a leg up. So and he's got a great back game. He's got great uh uh top position ground and pound. So I respect Patty everywhere and uh I don't listen to the internet. I don't have uh any social media. So I don't hear any of these things that you're talking about.

21:15 They don't affect me. I expect them to to be confident. expect him to to whether it's talk or not, which I doubt it is. Uh not many people talk about Justin. I think that's a bad thing to do because you're only giving him fire. Uh I expect them to be confident. You're fighting for a title and you better go in there confident. You better believe in your games that you have in all dimensions. So I respect him for saying stuff like that.

21:37 Yeah. Smart man staying off social media, by the way. I think if I ever get out of the the uh the rat race UFC media coverage, maybe I'll hop off of that as well. uh you find yourself like, "Oh man, I wish it was tomorrow." Or as a veteran and a coach, you're like, "I I I'm gonna use every single minute of preparation that we got." So like you're you're not feeling too anxious about it. Yeah.

21:55 No, no, no. The anxiousness is not there. I'm enjoying the moment. My favorite the one thing that if I could tell anybody out there, whether you're a fighter, whether you're a coach, is you never remember the outcomes. Like you never you you never it's like you can have belts and talk about the story, but you're not talking about the fight. You're talking about the journey. What was overcome? Like there's so many things when Shane Carman won the belt with Frank Mir and took it on short notice, had a brain stem issue going on, but unbeatable. Like there's no way we're going to win this fight. I remember we didn't even know if we were going to fight during fight week and uh they were doing all these scans. He had a beer, had some nachos, three days out from the fight and uh you know, right before we got the fight, he had told me after he beat Gonzaga, he's like, "I think I'm ready to to have the belt." So

22:36 the I I don't look at this we you know whether it's fast whether it's not like fighters are prepared to fight at any moment but enjoy the process enjoy the hurt like right now we're in peak week right now and and and these weeks are so hard like this week and next week is so hard for Justin and they suck but enjoy that suck because that's what we do to to get oursel to the point and uh I don't I don't want to speed it up it's like the movie Click you know you start to you start to go through all those things you miss the journey you have all these accolades and stuff like that. No, I I I'm really enjoying this process.

23:07 I'm old, too. I've been coaching for 20ome years and I started at a very young age. So, luckily, I've almost got three decades in just the high level coaching. Uh my first champion was in 2003. So, it's been a long time uh at a championship level and that stress is is real, but you learn to love it. You learn to to just embrace it and you embrace the highs, you embrace the lows, and and you never have that the peaks and valleys. Just enjoy the middle. That's the why I had that conversation that video is like like this doesn't make us like but we're going out there to get a just again it's just another statement. It's another opportunity to go out there and prove who you are but you know who you are and uh let's enjoy the process. Fighting changes you in life and I look forward to life. I don't look forward to one moment.

23:51 Yeah. Yeah. That's a good way to put it. And you guys are enjoying the moment. Again, if you haven't checked it out, Art of Violence um on Justin Gates's YouTube channel. Luke is uh one of the funniest men on the internet and and you guys uh you guys are enjoying yourself in camp and I'm looking forward to uh two weeks. We'll see you uh we'll see you in Vegas. So enjoy the enjoy the next two weeks. Trevor, thank you so much for your time. And then you know we'll uh we'll gear up for 324 and we'll watch Justin do his thing. 25 minutes Saturday, January 24th.

24:16 Best 25 minutes of his life.

Questions about this episode

What is discussed in "Trevor Wittman details Justin Gaethje’s prep for UFC 324 vs. Paddy Pimblett | ESPN MMA"?

In order: 0:00 UFC 324, Brett Okamoto, Onyx Gym, Trevor Whitman; 20:00 Art of Violence.

What is mentioned in this ESPN MMA episode?

7 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Justin Gaethje, Patty Pimblett, UFC 324, Brett Okamoto, Trevor Whitman, Onyx Gym. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "Trevor Wittman details Justin Gaethje’s prep for UFC 324 vs. Paddy Pimblett | ESPN MMA"?

The episode runs 24 min; the transcript is about 5,737 words in 43 timestamped sections.

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