I couldn’t see, taste or smell for years – Gaethje

The best part for Justin Gaethje about his eye surgery was being able to see things for the first time.

On Saturday at UFC 324 in Las Vegas, Gaethje will see Britain’s Paddy Pimblett opposite him in the octagon. For the first half of his career, such a sight would have been a struggle.

American Gaethje says he “couldn’t see things” for many years after being born short-sighted in one eye and long-sighted in the other, which severely affected his depth perception for the first half of his career.

It wasn’t until 16 fights into his professional career that Gaethje was able to afford laser eye surgery to correct his vision.

“I saw mice scurrying across the road when I was driving, gnats hovering over the sidewalk,” Gaethje tells BBC Sport.

“I really understood how much I was missing, that was cool. You don’t know what you’re missing until you see it.”

Gaethje, 37, has built a reputation as a fearsome striker in MMA, winning 20 of his 31 bouts by knockout, but his background was in wrestling.

Gaethje, who faces Pimblett for the interim lightweight title at the T-Mobile Arena, says the hands-on nature of wrestling compensated for his bad eyesight because it eliminated worries about distance management.

“That’s why I’m so good at fighting on the inside because I always had to touch them to know where I was at to punch them,” said Gaethje.

“It was a distance thing. I was short-sighted in one eye and long-sighted in the other so I used to punch the middle one.”

He continued: “That’s the skill I had to work on the most and where I fought them the most. I could always see them but it was understanding distance.

“If I close one eye, they’d be 5ft away and if I close the other they would be right in my face. That was the biggest thing to overcome.”

Former interim champion Gaethje, who last fought in March with a decision win over Rafael Fiziev, says life has been “awesome” after fixing his eyes but credits nose surgery in 2022 as equally beneficial.

Following defeat by Charles Oliveira for the UFC lightweight title, Gaethje had an operation to repair his septum, which had been damaged 13 years prior during his wrestling career.

“It was awesome being able to taste my food again. Those years were something else – I couldn’t see, taste or smell,” says Gaethje.

“Every experience I’ve had has shaped me and made me the person I am so I’m thankful for all of it.”

Live text commentary on UFC 324 will begin from 03:00 GMT on the BBC Sport website and app.

Main card from 02:00 Sunday, 25 January:

Preliminary card from 00:00 Sunday, 25 January: