The ripple effect of UFC 300 in the lightweight division is finally coming to a close. Last year, Ali Abdelaziz claimed that UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev was considering a clash against Justin Gaethje. Notably, the manager made this statement ahead of Dustin Poirier‘s bout against Benoit Saint-Denis and Gaethje’s fight against Max Holloway. Poirier’s victory over Saint-Denis and Gaethje’s loss to Holloway altered the timeline, leading to Poirier challenging Makhachev for the title at UFC 302, while Gaethje had to take a year off to recover from that knockout. However, with his victory over Rafael Fiziev on Saturday, ‘The Highlight’ has now called for a title shot. Finally, a semblance of normalcy in the title picture, right? Wrong!
After defeating Rafael Fiziev at UFC 313, Justin Gaethje called out to the higher management of the UFC to give him a chance at the title. Later, at the presser, ‘The Highlight’ appeared a bit dejected when he ascertained that he didn’t know if this victory would give him a title shot – “I don’t know (what I want next), we’ll see. I mean, I wanna fight for the belt, obviously, it’s a much different matchup than I just had, they tried to give me a donut but I need to get back to running if I’m gonna fight Makhachev,” said Gaethje.
Two days later, ‘The Highlight’ made it clear that the only thing he wants from his next fight is a title shot. Taking to his X handle, Justin Gaethje called out UFC CEO Dana White, demanding a title fight. “I won 3 out of my last 4 fights, only losing in an exhibition fight. I have to fight for the belt @DanaWhite I’m ready.”
Ahead of his fight against Rafael Fiziev, Justin Gaethje highlighted that the UFC might give him a shot at the lightweight title. He pointed out that Dustin Poirier, despite being defeated by him, went on to fight for the title after his win against Benoît Saint-Denis. ‘The Highlight’ has saved the UFC twice—at UFC 300 and UFC 313—by stepping in to face Fiziev after Dan Hooker withdrew. This, he believes, might prompt Dana White to reward him with a title opportunity.
Yes, those are definitely worth brownie points from White and the UFC. The champion Islam Makhachev also prefers Gaethje since he is a fresh matchup. Besides, Arman Tsarukyan and Charles Oliveira had a close fight the first time around. If the UFC decides to pit them against each other for a #1 contender, Gaethje could be the one to keep the champ active. But the fans have other ideas.
Does Justin Gaethje deserve the next shot at Islam Makhachev? Fans are skeptical
Charles Oliveira was supposed to rematch Islam Makhachev back at UFC 294, however, he had to pull out of his fight at the last minute due to an injury. Years have passed since then and ‘Do Bronx’ is still waiting for a rematch. Since then, he has lost a close decision to Arman Tsarukyan at UFC 300 and recently secured a victory against Michael Chandler at UFC 309. Oliveira has asserted that the only thing that he needs now is a title shot. Looking at this a fan wrote, “Oliveira deserves it more than Justin”
Justin Gaethje believes that his fight against Max Holloway was an exhibition match, despite being the highlight of UFC 300. Following that logic, a fan argued that his victory over Dustin Poirier should also be considered an exhibition fight.“Exhibition Fight he says…. then I guess his “Win” over Poirier was just an Exhibition too, right? Come on Justin.”
Furthermore, another fan emphasized, “You don’t deserve ain’t s— buddy.” A social media user believes Arman Tsarukyan deserves it much more than Gaethje, “Only one who deserves a title shot is Arman, who is getting passed up bc of his pull out. The only logical next guy is Ilia. Just book the fight we all want to see!”
Interestingly, While having a conversation with ‘The Schmo,’ Tsarukyan highlighted that Gaethje should fight him or Charles Oliveira first to take the title shot, “Gaethje wants to fight for the title. It makes sense to fight with me because nobody gonna give him a title fight, it’s not gonna be fair. He gotta beat me or Oliveira to get a title fight. I think they gonna give me Oliveira or Gaethje, or maybe a title fight. I don’t know yet.”
Moreover, a fan believes that Max Holloway should be in the title picture as well, “How Max isn’t in the discussion and is just being ignored is wild to me.” Last but not the least, a fan believes that Gaethje and Makhachev’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz made the post and not him, “This is Ali lmao not justin”
So what does the UFC CEO think about the title fight? When asked about Justin Gaethje getting the title fight, Dana White stated, “I mean, what’s he ranked right now? Fourth or something, right? Third. There you go, he’s still the number three ranked guy in the world so the odds of him getting the title shot are pretty good”
Well, a title fight may be on the cards for the former ‘BMF’ belt holder but when that is the actual question. Given that, when do you think would the fight take place? State your thoughts in the comments below.
The post “You Don’t Deserve”- Justin Gaethje’s Ambition Stopped by Fans as Islam Makhachev’s Future Gets Public Verdict appeared first on EssentiallySports.
