In Photos: Justin Gaethje sweats it out with Olympic champion wrestler Zaurbek Sidakov

Justin Gaethje recently partnered with freestyle wrestling world champion and Olympic gold medalist Zaurbek Sidakov for an intense wrestling session. Despite his reputation as a violent striker, Gaethje is one of the most credentialed wrestlers in the UFC lightweight division and even got the nickname 'HIghlight' during his time in pure wrestling.

Recently, Gaethje partnered with Sidakov for a wrestling session and posted glimpses from their training on Instagram. Sidakov is widely regarded as one of the most accomplished amateur wrestlers today. He won the gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the 74 kg weight class and has won the World Wrestling Championships (men's freestyle 74 kg) in 2018, 2019, and 2023.

Check out the photos from the training session below:

Image courtesy: @justin_gaethje on Instagram

Image courtesy: @justin_gaethje on Instagram

Image courtesy: @justin_gaethje on Instagram

Image courtesy: @justin_gaethje on Instagram

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Despite a wrestling background, Justin Gaethje does not like to take a grappling-heavy approach in fights

A combination of grappling and striking disciplines like wrestling and Western boxing or Jiu-jitsu and Muay Thai is generally considered to be a well-rounded skill set in MMA. While Justin Gaethje has a strong wrestling background, he has refused to take the grappling route even against some of the most lethal strikers.

While his reluctance to grapple comes as a surprise to many, Gaethje explained his reason in an interview with Title Sports Network:

"This is my job. I do this for the money. And if I was to take a heavy wrestling approach, they [UFC] would never be paying me what they're paying me now. I've had huge fights, pretty much because of the way I fight so I have no regrets.”

Check out Justin Gaethje's comments below (3:40):

Gaethje is coming off a difficult KO loss against Max Holloway in the ceremonial BMF title fight at UFC 300. He feels that getting back in shape for a fight is getting more difficult with growing age and decided to take at least six months off to recover from the devastating finish. However, he told MMA Fighting that he is doing cardio and other exercises to stay in shape.