The interim UFC lightweight champion is making the most of AI’s rise.

Justin Gaethje emerged victorious from the first main event of 2026 and of the Paramount era, becoming a two-time interim тιтleholder at 155 pounds in the process.

In the main event of UFC 324 in Las Vegas, Gaethje beat Paddy Pimblett in their entertaining five-round battle at T-Mobile Arena.

‘The Highlight’ was on top for large portions of the headliner on January 24, and Gaethje credited his genius game plan for helping him hand Pimblett the first loss of his UFC career.

But it appears that the American fan favorite also received some help from a surprising source on fight day…

Justin Gaethje used AI during his UFC 324 fight day preparation

After UFC 324, Gaethje recently reflected on his upset victory over ‘The Baddy’ during an episode of coach Trevor Wittman’s podcast, What Hones You Show.

‘The Highlight’ made a surprising admission, revealing that he used ChatGPT to decide on a couple of things related to his fight day routine.

“Earlier in the day (of UFC 324), I asked ChatGPT something,” Gaethje said.

“Obviously my ChatGPT knows that I’m about to fight. I wanted to sit in the cold tub, so I said, ‘What do you think about cold tub on compeтιтion day?’ It’s like, ‘It’s not a bad idea, but just tell me how you feel?’

“I was like, ‘I feel great.’ He was like, ‘Well, then just shut the f— up, wait, and trust that your preparation…trust that your body’s gonna do what it needs to do when the time comes.’

“That’s why I asked it how long I should nap for,” he continued. “I wanted to nap for two hours; it was like, ‘Don’t sleep for more than 20 minutes…and then wake up and remind yourself that you’ve done this a million times, and tonight is just the loud part.’”

Who ChatGPT says Justin Gaethje should fight next

In the spirit of that, we asked ChatGPT who the newly crowned interim UFC lightweight champion should fight later this year.

The AI likes logic and, evidently, dislikes the presence of two champions. Perhaps ChatGPT could have solved the heavyweight saga involving Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall…

The top choice for Gaethje’s next opponent was listed as lightweight king Ilia Topuria.

“It’s the true championship fight and would be Gaethje’s best sH๏τ at earning undisputed gold late in his career.”

While Arman Tsarukyan may see the term “true” as being used loosely, the AI went on to mention that the two lightweight тιтles should be unified.

Unfortunately for the Armenian, he even came in behind a trilogy fight with the retired Dustin Poirier on the ChatGPT list.