Justin Gaethje always delivers action in the Octagon, but the UFC lightweight is ready to walk away from the sport without a third chance to become champion, according to manager Ali Abdelaziz. Gaethje is targeting the winner of the UFC 317 main event between Charles Oliveira and Ilia Topuria for the vacant lightweight title. Islam Makhachev vacated the title when he decided to move to welterweight in pursuit of a world title in a second weight class.
“Justin Gaethje fights the winner,” Abdelaziz said during an appearance on Submission Radio. “He’s won three of his last four, he saved the UFC two times. They needed him, and he’s there. The guy did so much for the sport. If anyone said he doesn’t deserve it — [Gaethje] said, ‘If I’m not going to fight for the title, I’m just going to hang up my gloves.'”
Gaethje was passed over for the vacant title fight in favor of Topuria, the popular former featherweight champion who is making his own jump in weight after vacating his title, and Oliveira, a former lightweight champion who defeated Gaethje in May 2022. Oliveira was the champion coming into his fight with Gaethje, but failed to make weight and was stripped of the belt on the scale.
Gaethje won the interim lightweight title with a win over Tony Ferguson in May 2020. He failed to turn that interim belt into a full championship when he was submitted by Khabib Nurmagomedov that October.
Nearly every one of Gaethje’s trips to the Octagon has earned him a bonus, with either Performance or Fight of the Night bonuses in 12 of 14 UFC fights. He has also been willing to take fights on short notice against elite competition, which has combined with being passed over for the title shot to create a situation that Abdelaziz says has left Gaethje feeling “disrespected” by the organization.
“He’s a very principled guy,” Abdelaziz said. “He feels strongly about this. He told me this yesterday. I was at [UFC 316], he said, ‘I’m not going to get a title shot. I feel disrespected. I love being a UFC fighter, I love the UFC, but I feel the UFC has to love me back.’ And he doesn’t feel the love right now.
“But listen, at the end of the day, I think, this guy, they love him. I think they will give him what he wanted. But at the end of the day, we have to see what happens first between Charles and Ilia.”
Gaethje has won three of his four most recent fights, with the lone defeat coming in a literal last-second knockout to Max Holloway in their UFC 300 thriller. He got back in the win column with a decision win over Rafael Fiziev at UFC 313.
