Gaethje's sparring partner details UFC 300 camp: grappling work, weapons vault, and Wittman's coaching focus

Russian lightweight Nikita Kulshin, who served as Justin Gaethje's primary sparring partner ahead of his fight with Ilia Topuria, has described life inside the Colorado camp in detail. Kulshin noted that Gaethje trained wrestling two to three hours per week and worked on scrambles and standing, while head coach Trevor Wittman focused on foot positioning over set combinations. Gaethje trained low kicks during camp but did not go full power, which Kulshin attributed to a possible underlying injury, and high-kick work was present but not heavily emphasized.