Justin Gaethje defends his ‘BMF’ title against Max Holloway this coming Saturday at UFC 300, as he tries to cement another lightweight title shot.
Justin Gaethje first competed for the 155lb title back in 2020 when he was beaten by Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 254.
Current lightweight champion Islam Makhachev has made it clear that he wants to defend his title in June, with Dustin Poirier recently confirming on his social media that he is fighting the Russian next.
With Charles Oliveira taking on Arman Tsarukyan at UFC 300 as well as Gaethje versus Holloway, Poirier is benefitting from being one of the only top lightweights not currently booked.
Justin Gaethje believes the winner of Oliveira and Tsarukyan should be next
Despite the fight between Makhachev and Poirier being all but confirmed, ‘The Highlight’ Gaethje believes that Makhachev’s next title defense should be against the winner of ‘Do Bronx’ and Tsarukyan.
Oliviera was originally scheduled for a rematch with Makhachev for UFC 294, but after sustaining a bad cut in fight camp, he withdrew from the fight.
“Ideally they’re calling this Oliveira-Tsarukyan fight a title eliminator, so the winner of that fight fights Makhachev in June.” Gathje told ShakMMA on YouTube.
The 35-year-old explained why he thinks Makhachev is happy to take the fight with Dustin Poirier instead, hinting that it’s an easier fight than the other options had he waited for the results of UFC 300.
Gaethje’s last outing came against Dustin Poirier at UFC 291, where he scored an emphatic second-round knockout over the Louisianan. The 35-year-old hinted at being annoyed to see Poirier given a title shot when he beat him last time out.
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“(Islam) has to fight somebody and it is hard for him to believe that Tsarukyan, Oliveira would be ready or want to fight in June, I’m not sure why June is his date.
“I think it’s what ifs, even in his mind it’s what ifs. You can’t have a fight if you haven’t got an opponent so if I’m Makhachev I want to take that (Poirier) fight because I think that I win that fight.” he added.
Gaethje wants a title fight in November at Madison Square Garden
If Justin Gaethje successfully gets through Max Holloway this coming weekend, his next fight will likely be for the undisputed lightweight title, but he may have to wait a while.
With Makhachev likely fighting ‘The Diamond’ in June, the winner may only fight once again in 2024 and that could be against the winner of Oliveira and Tsarukyan.
Despite that, Gaethje said he wants to fight for the title in November at Madison Square Garden as he believes that’s the ‘perfect timeline’ for him.
“I fight the winner preferably in Madison Square Garden in November. That sounds like the perfect timeline to me, I’ll have time to rest, recover, and retrain myself to get ready for that fight.
“That’s the perfect situation for me. We’ll see if Oliveira s**** the bed again. I think if Tsarukyan wins he takes it (next shot) because they are calling this a title eliminator so whoever wins is going to fight that fight.”
Makhachev has a history with both Oliveira and Tsarukyan having beaten them both before. The Russian defeated ‘Do Bronx’ at UFC 280 in 2022, taking the 155lb title from him. His win over Tsarukyan came in 2019, in what was only the Armenian’s UFC debut.