Justin Gaethje is hoping he gets a chance to fight for the lightweight title in November at Madison Square Garden.
Gaethje is looking like the odd man out these days. New 155 pound champ Ilia Topuria is pushing hard for a money fight with Paddy Pimblett, while Arman Tsarukyan continues to make solid arguments as to his worthiness as No. 1 contender. Lost in the shuffle is Gaethje, who is 3-1 over the last two years but just hasn’t been playing the game and getting in front of the camera enough to stay in people’s minds.
Now we have “The Highlight” on a wakesurf board talking to Austin Keen about the UFC 317 fight between Topuria and Charles Oliveira. This was recorded before the bout happened.
“I don’t care who wins, I just want to fight the winner,” he yelled over the sound of surf and boat motor. “Topuria is the big name right now. He’s cocky, I would love to knock him out. But Oliveira beat me, so I want to fight him again.”
“I don’t give a f— who wins, I hope one of them is put to sleep and I get to fight the winner in November at MSG.”
We love Gaethje but it’s not looking good for him at the moment. His fate was probably sealed the moment Joe Rogan invited Paddy Pimblett into the cage to face off with Ilia Topuria. Once that happened, he not only lost his chance to fight for the title but his chance to fight the easiest lightweight contender for dibs on the next title shot.
Now there’s just Gaethje and Tsarukyan standing there, an obvious pair-up to take on the winner (lol) of Topuria vs. Pimblett. That’s a tough fight for both men, but that’s the way it goes in the UFC.
