No water during training — entire career
Gaethje has never drunk water during training sessions throughout his career, viewing it as a mental discipline and part of his toughness regimen.
Snapshot · The Joe Rogan Experience
JRE MMA Show #181 with Justin Gaethje & Trevor Wittman
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Jun 20, 2026
Where this was said
Weight Cutting and Brain Dehydration — Wittman's Disturbing Research
At 1:22:01 · chapter starts 1:19:05
Wittman's hypothesis is one of the most striking in the episode. He's been researching boxing deaths for years and found a pattern almost nobody talks about: nearly every death in the last 10–15 years happens after the 9th round, often in fighters who are winning and not taking much damage. They just seem to take a knee and not get up. [1] — Trevor Wittman "Almost every boxing death in the last 10–15 years happens after round 9, often to fighters who are winning and not taking much damage. Witt…" 1:19:05 Wittman consulted a doctor he calls Dr. D, who confirmed that dehydrating the brain creates structural vulnerability — like cracked lips — that could explain why these fighters, who've spent weeks systematically draining their bodies to make weight and then rehydrating, suddenly fail late in long fights when their dehydrated brains face cumulative trauma. He also references not giving Tony Ferguson water for a 5-round fight as a personal failing he learned from. Gaethje casually mentions he never drinks water during training — not even during strength and conditioning. He arrives hydrated, works, and drinks after.
Nearly all boxing deaths occur after round 9
Trevor Wittman's research found that almost all boxing deaths in the last 10–15 years happen after the 9th round, which he links to dehydration from weight cutting weakening the brain.
Why Weight Cutting May Be Killing Boxers
Almost every boxing death in the last 10–15 years happens after round 9, often to fighters who are winning and not taking much damage. Wittman believes chronically dehydrating the brain through extreme weight cuts may be cracking the brain like dried lips, creating lethal vulnerability late in fights.
Woke up in ambulance after drug overdose
Gaethje revealed he woke up in an ambulance after what he believes was a near-death experience from drugs around 2016, which was the last time he ever used.
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