Justin Gaethje insists he wasn’t trying to put the lightweight division on blast with his viral social media post.
‘The Highlight’ was left without an opponent when Dan Hooker withdrew from their UFC 313 fight on Tuesday.
About 24 hours later, Rafael Fiziev stepped in to rematch the heavy-handed American in Las Vegas on March 8.
However, it seemed that Justin Gaethje would’ve preferred to see one of the other 155lb contenders step up when he took to social media to name five fighters who he claims ‘said no’ to facing him on 10 days notice.
Justin Gaethje clears the air
Gaethje took to X – formerly known as Twitter – to seemingly out the lightweights who refused the fight.
“Arman [Tsarukyan] and Charles [Oliveira] understandably said no. Max [Holloway] and Dustin [Poirier] understandably said no. [Renato] Moicano got the call and said no,” the former interim UFC champion tweeted on Wednesday evening.
He added: “Props to Fiziev for volunteering to fly across the world and take this fight. Big risk here for me taking this rematch against an elite striker. Life’s a trip. Best live show on earth going down March 8th #UFC313”
Arman Tsaryukan was the first UFC star who denied turning down a short-notice fight with Gaethje – but he did admit to asking for the bout at a catchweight before Fiziev agreed to make 156lbs.
Dustin Poirier also hit back at Gaethje for suggesting that he shied away from a short-notice trilogy fight.
“I never got the call, I didn’t say no,” he wrote in response to Gaethje’s viral social media post.
Poirier added: “I’m the one who reached out to them when I read the news. Ask Hunter [Campbell]. All respect to you and Fiziev, looking forward to this one again.”
Geathje has since insisted that he didn’t mean to accuse the five fighters he named of ducking him.
“I was just running back the crazy 48hrs I went through,” he tweeted in response to Poirier. “I was not trying to imply any of you guys would not fight me. Arman was too heavy, same with Charles. UFC obviously has plans for you at a later date so they said that’s a no go.”
Justin Gaethje eyes Islam Makhachev fight
A win for Gaethje at UFC 313 could put him in line for a shot at lightweight champion Islam Makhachev.
The pound-for-pound number one picked up a quick submission win over Renato Moicano at UFC 311 in January.
There’s currently no obvious next challenger, but Gaethje is hoping to make things clear at UFC 313.
The 36-year-old recently named Makhachev’s teammate, Khabib Nurmagomedov, as his toughest opponent after being choked unconscious by ‘The Eagle’ when they fought at UFC 254 in October 2020.
Still, he fancies his chances against the current 155lb king, who also seems keen on the matchup.
“I think Khabib was probably [was toughest],” Gaethje said. “Even if I performed better, I’m not sure I could have beat him on that night. So that night, when I fought Khabib, he was one of the toughest opponents to date.
“I wanna fight Makhachev. . . . I do believe that is a better matchup for me than Khabib,”