Ahead of his short notice fight against Rafael Fiziev at UFC 313, Justin Gaethje has stated that he wants to return to his roots.
In just over a week, one of the UFC’s most exciting fighters ever, Justin Gaethje will return to the Octagon, when he takes on fellow explosive striker, Rafael Fiziev at UFC 313.
Originally, ‘The Highlight’ was scheduled to take on Dan Hooker in a guaranteed Fight of the Year contender but Hooker withdrew from the fight due to a fractured hand.
Fortunately, the promotion managed to book a rematch between Gaethje and Fiziev on short notice with their first fight having been a 2023 Fight of the Year contender.
Justin Gaethje believes he has been ‘too safe’ in recent fights
UFC 313 on March 8 will mark Gaethje’s first fight since UFC 300 last April when he was devastatingly KO’d by Max Holloway in the final second of their BMF title fight.
After suffering such a brutal knockout loss, Gaethje contemplated retirement from the sport as he was unsure whether he would be able to work his way back to an undisputed lightweight title fight.
Having said that, ‘The Highlight’ is still ranked number three in the 155lb division and a win over Fiziev could put him back in the conversation with Islam Makhachev wondering who his next opponent will be.
Despite being widely considered one of, if not the most exciting fighter in the sport, Gaethje has been critical of his last few performances, claiming that he has been ‘too safe’ and will return to the old version of himself on March 8.
“I think I fell into a tendency to not move forward as much as I should in this sport, and if you look at the champions, they’re moving forward 70 to 80% of the time and I think that has to be implemented if you want to be successful in this sport,” Gaethje told ShakMMA.
“I think that’s where through (the) Michael Chandler and Fiziev (fights), I kind of found success with being safer and ultimately, that’s not the answer.
“If you watched the World Series Of Fighting Gaethje, that’s who you’re gonna see with (this performance) but just more refined. I obviously have much better skills than I did in those days and that’s my mindset,” Gaethje continued.
Justin Gaethje comments on Ilia Topuria’s permanent move to lightweight
Gaethje believes that with a big win at UFC 313, he can secure himself the next lightweight title shot as both fighters above him, Charles Oliveira and Arman Tsarukyan, are unlikely to be next.
The current unknown factor at 155lbs, is Ilia Topuria. The Spaniard recently vacated his featherweight title and declared his permanent move up to lightweight and is hopeful of an immediate title shot.
Despite that, Makhachev and his team believe Topuria needs one win against a top contender before he can fight for the title, leaving the door potentially open for ‘The Highlight’.
Ahead of ‘El Matador’s’ move up to the weight class, Gaethje believes the 28-year-old will fit in extremely well and he isn’t concerned by the fact that he is naturally a featherweight.
“I think him being a featherweight coming up to lightweight is not a factor, I think we saw that with Max Holloway… The confidence he has right now is what he’s got going for him the most.
“I think he’s a force to be reckoned with, absolutely. He’s very dangerous, he’s confident, we’ll see how it goes. Styles make matchups, we’ll see what kind of matchup he gets,” the former interim champion stated.