"You've seen me fight, haven't you?" - Justin Gaethje confirms Mexican heritage as he details his family tree
Justin Gaethje has confirmed that he is part-Mexican as he spoke about his Mexican roots in an interview.
The UFC lightweight is fresh off one of the biggest wins of his career against Dustin Poirier. The pair headlined the UFC 291 card in Salt Lake City, Utah. 'The Highlight', true to his name, delivered a highlight reel finish at the one-minute mark of round two with a head kick.
In an interview that is doing the rounds on social media, Gaethje revealed that he is part-Mexican:
"I am a Mexican. Yeah, I'm sixty percent Mexican. My mom's a hundred percent, my nonna doesn't speak English, that's how I found that out. I was born in Tucson, Arizona and I was raised in like, probably a couple hours north of the border, small town."
The interviewer replied saying he would have never guessed Gaethje was Mexican. To which he responded:
"You've seen me fight haven't you? That's all you need to see."
Take a look at the interview:
I never knew Justin Gaethje is 60% Mexican pic.twitter.com/xySIvOn5j1
Fans in the comments section could not believe that Justin Gaethje was part-Mexican.
Justin Gaethje talks about the impact of his win at UFC 291 on Mexicans
Beating Dustin Poirier with a head kick is one of the biggest highlights of Justin Gaethje's career. His win at UFC 291 has put him into direct title contention and has solidified his position in the division.
During his post-fight press conference, an interviewer asked him how big this win is, especially for the Mexican side of his family. Gaethje replied by saying:
"This is, you know, outside of soccer, and soccer doesn't necessarily have the United States. I think this is the most worldwide sport, the farther away from these borders I go, the more popular I am and that is absolutely amazing. And for the people that do know my mom is of Mexican heritage, I have so much family down there and I'm sure they're shooting fireworks."
Take a look at the clip:
#UFC @Justin_Gaethje es de sangre mexicana 🇲🇽☝️
#BMFKing #México #ArribaMexicoCabrones pic.twitter.com/w0Z2NOloKB
Gaethje went on to talk about how wonderful it was to inspire the world through fighting and that was all he wished for. He also spoke about how he wishes he had the same amount of belief in himself as his family and coaches did.