Justin Gaethje pulled off a massive upset at the White House by defeating the undefeated Ilia Topuria on June 14, 2026. A few days later, 'The Highlight' shared a video displaying the training routine that helped him capture the UFC lightweight gold.

Gaethje stepped into the UFC Freedom 250 main event against Topuria as an underdog, with his rival entering the fight with an undefeated 17-0 record. However, on his YouTube video titled Behind The Curtain - EPISODE 4, his coach, Trevor Whitman, mentioned that they had left no stone unturned to prepare for the encounter in the best possible way.

Whitman said, "He has been great all week. Training camp has been great. Outside of the outcome, we have done everything we needed to do for this fight." Gaethje's video also displayed the fight-specific training activities. They were:

• Striking practice with Whitman by hitting the mitts
• Sparring session with a partner
• Grappling session with a partner

Well, it can be safely said that all three of these training activities helped Gaethje in the fight. 'The Highlight' started taking the upper hand in the fight right from the initial round with his striking accuracy while avoiding most of Topuria's strikes. This implies that hitting the mitts with Whitman came in handy to dominate his rival.

Gaethje's sparring sessions also paid their dividend in his victory over Topuria, as he managed to work around 'El Matador's' powerful strikes that have shut the lights of even former UFC champions, like Charles Oliveira and Max Holloway. It helped him pick up Topuria's mentality to advance and score a KO, as he used the opportunity to fire thudding counter strikes that eventually led him to a victory.

With both Gaethje and Topuria being primarily stand-and-strike fighters, not much grappling was expected in the fight. But there was an instance in the second round when Topuria tried to submit Gaethje after flooring him with strong body shots.

However, 'The Highlight' managed to survive it, which says a lot about the usefulness of his grappling sessions. But while Gaethje's video gave just an overview of his training activities, he actually follows a much more planned approach during fight camp.

Justin Gaethje's fight-specific training split

Gaethje's video displayed him delving into all three training activities in a single day. But he did so as it was the final day of his training before the fight against Topuria.

During the earlier weeks of the training camp, he follows a combination of activities for each day, training six days a week. Here's what Gaethje's weekly split looks like:

Monday

Divided into three shifts:

• Striking (10 a.m.)
• Grappling (1 p.m.)
• Lifting (3 p.m.)

Tuesday

• Fixed as a sparring day

Wednesday

Divided into two sessions:

• Striking
• Strength Training with exercises like vertaclimber, bike cardio, Australian pull-ups, and battle ropes

Thursday

• Fixed as wrestling day, involving training in takedowns and defending them, along with ground positioning

Friday

• Usually, sparring sessions, but it depends on how far the fight day is.

Saturday

• Striking training after jumpropes and shadowboxing warm-ups
• Assault bike cardio

Sunday

• Rest and Recovery

This regimen has worked well for 'The Highlight' as he currently sits at the top of the UFC lightweight division with victories over multiple renowned contenders.

But who do you think will be next on his list?

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Written by

Souvik Roy

Edited by

Ashvinkumar Patil