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

Justin Gaethje’s first-hand experience with seeing things was the best part of having his eye surgery.

Paddy Pimblett will face Gaethje in the octagon on Saturday at UFC 324 in Las Vegas. Such a sight would have been difficult for him for the first half of his career.

American Gaethje claims that his deep perception for the first half of his career was severely affected by his having been born short-sighted in one eye and long-sighted in the other.

Gaethje’s professional career only lasted 16 fights before he was able to get laser eye surgery to correct his vision.

When I was driving, I saw mice scurry across the road and gnats hovering over the sidewalk, Gaethje claims.

That was cool because I fully comprehended how much I was missing. You never know what you’re missing until you realize it.

Gaethje, who wrestles at T-Mobile Arena to challenge Pimblett for the interim lightweight title, claims that his poor vision was made up for by the hands-on nature of wrestling because distance management was eliminated.

Because I always had to touch them to find out where I was when I was trying to punch them, Gaethje said, “That’s why I’m so good at fighting on the inside.”

“It was a distance issue,” the author said. I used to punch the middle eye because I had short- and long-sightedness in one eye.

He continued, “That’s the skill I worked on the most and where I battled them the most.” They were always there for me, but it was a learning distance.

The phrase “If I close one eye, they would be five feet away, and the other, they would be right in my face” applies. The biggest challenge was that.

Former interim champion Gaethje, who won the fight in March with a decision victory over Rafael Fiziev, claims that despite fixing his eyes, 2022 nose surgery is also a good idea.

Gaethje had surgery to repair his septum, which had been damaged during his wrestling career, 13 years prior to Charles Oliveira’s defeat for the UFC lightweight title.

“It was amazing to be able to taste my food again.” I couldn’t see, taste, or smell those years, Gaethje asserts.

On the BBC Sport website and app, live text commentary for UFC 324 will start at 03:00 GMT.

Main card from 02: 00 Sunday, 25 January:

Preliminary card starting at 00 on Sunday, January 25th, 2019: