UFC Hall of Famer Demetrious Johnson believes that Justin Gaethje should retire on top after beating Ilia Topuria at UFC Freedom 250.

Gaethje picked up the biggest win of his own future UFC HOF career when he beat Topuria via fourth-round TKO on the White House lawn.

Following the win, Gaethje said he had not made up his mind about whether or not he wants to continue in the sport. At age 37, he is getting up there in years. But he looked amazing against Topuria, and Gaethje is arguably peaking at this late stage of his career, as he’s won three fights in a row against Topuria, Paddy Pimblett, and Rafael Fiziev, and he’s looked great in all of them.

But according to Johnson, Gaethje should go out on top, as it will never get better than this.

Demetrious Johnson Encourages Justin Gaethje to Retire

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Johnson made the case for “The Highlight” to walk away from the sport he loves while he’s still on top.

“There is nothing left for Justin Gaethje to do. World Series of Fighting champion, he’s made so much money in mixed martial arts. He probably double bonused tonight, and I think the bonuses were $485,000. He is an undisputed lightweight champion, he’s been the interim champion of the world. There’s nothing left for (Gaethje) to do,” Johnson said (via MMAjunkie.com).

“You guys might hate me for this, but the best thing Justin Gaethje can do is retire. He should retire on this amazing victory against a legend like Ilia Topuria. You retire on top, you save your brain cells, you ride off into the sunset. You beat one of the best athletes, you gave him his first (expletive) defeat. Ride away with the White House belt and the undisputed lightweight championship belt.”

What Will Justin Gaethje Do?

Whatever Gaethje’s decision will be is ultimately going to be up to him, as UFC president Dana White has said many times that he does not believe fighters who have one foot out the door should continue competing. So, if Gaethje has any sort of inkling that he’s done, then White would tell him to hang up his gloves and walk away.

It’s going to be Gaethje’s decision as to what he wants to do. If he wants to come back and fight again, the UFC would love to have him. But if he wants to ride off into the sunset on top, then that’s also a good choice. It’s entirely up to him what he chooses to do.

If he does fight again, then Gaethje could fight either top contender Arman Tsarukyan or he could rematch BMF title champion Charles Oliveira. Both of those fights are big matches that make a lot of sense, so the UFC can’t go wrong with booking either of them.

But if he decides that, instead of fighting again, he wants to hang up his gloves and save his brain cells, no one would fault Gaethje for making that choice.