Cage fighting isn’t exactly associated with charity work or helping the underprivileged, but for UFC’s Justin Gaethje, it’s a goal to inspire those in need.
With a bachelor’s degree in human services, ‘The Highlight”s dream career has always been in social work with at-risk youth. MMA was just a means to fund these aspirations.
In an interview with MMAKnockout’s Matt Riddle, Gaethje outlined whether those plans are still on the table, especially after earning a hefty $300,000 bonus at UFC 300.
Q: In 2015, while you were still at WSOF, you outlined a plan to work with troubled youth. Do those plans still exist? Are you working on them for retirement?
“The crazy thing is I think I do that throughout the fight, you know?” Gaethje said. “You know, I’m not going to do an interview where people look at me and think I’m not a good person. I love to help people. I love to inspire people. We do it through violence, but I know that my actions are an inspiration to others.
“I know that my fortitude and resilience inside the cage is something that people all over the world can relate to, and hopefully to young people as well. And, yeah, this is to do what I wanted to do. I don’t think it’s the most traditional way of doing it. But I think I’m doing it through fighting now.
“… In between fights, I go out and go to different events and meet different people. I think I just like helping people. So, it’s It’s never gone away, whether it was before or not, during my career, during my career, it’s something that brings me peace, and something that I enjoy. [I’ll] No matter what I’m doing, always try. ”
Q: Could this manifest itself in philanthropy? Or do you intend to? [keep it in martial arts?]
“I travel a lot, and I always get to meet new people,” Gaethje replied. “And I’m able to have different conversations with everyone I interact with. Everyone has different things going on in their lives, so whether it’s just having a conversation, I try to do as much as I can.” I can help you in any way, “I can help you in any way,” such as taking pictures or talking about a particular problem that is happening in someone’s life.
“But right now I don’t have any plans. I’m going to play in tournaments, I’m going to play in golf tournaments, I’m going to play in as many golf tournaments as I can, I’m going to be in as many charity events as I can. For now. That’s it.’ But we don’t know what the outcome will be. ”
Fans may have gotten a glimpse of Gaethje’s philanthropic efforts as part of a new collaboration with OnlyFansTV. Gaethje provides exclusive insight into his daily life as an elite athlete. You can watch his first episode teaser for free here.
“Honestly, the best thing for me was [about the OF platform] It’s the ability to interact with my fans,” Gaethje admitted. …. All YouTube content you were posting on YouTube. [is] Moving to OnlyFans is still free and free for everyone.
“I didn’t want to offend people by putting my YouTube series Behind the Curtain behind a paywall because I didn’t think it was fair. … I didn’t want to put it for free. I want that because I have provided for people to remain free.
“…and who knows what other types of content there might be. Hopefully some videos of me being outdoors, camping, fishing, golfing, etc. [being] usually. I think people respect that side of me as well. So I would like to share that side as well. ”
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