Justin Gaethje appears to be genuinely torn on whether to make his first title defense as lightweight champion or just hang up his gloves for good.

“I do not feel like I have anything left to prove. My first fight was in ‘08. I’m 37 years old,” Gaethje said on the FLAGRANT podcast. “But I know that I also just performed better than I’ve ever performed, so I’m stuck in between a rock and a hard place. I have my faculties. I want to keep my faculties.”

The 37-year-old Gaethje appears certain that if he does defend the belt then it’ll be against Arman Tsarukyan, even though he does still hold a desire to fight Conor McGregor.

However, after a long, hard career full of wars it seems like ‘The Highlight’ has finally began to question whether it’s worth the risk to his long-term health to continue competing.

“If and when I defend this championship, that will be who I fight,” Gaethje said of Tsarukyan. “I just don’t know right now.

“I gave a lot of myself for this fight in January and June. Luckily, I came out on top, but it cost me a lot, so I need to recover. I need to rest my brain, because a lot of training went into those fights.

“I’m going to enjoy being champion the rest of the year. I’m going to make a business decision and a life decision whenever the time comes.”

Watch Gaethje’s full interview below.