Justin Gaethje believes he was in a perfect position to benefit from a title shot at UFC 317.
Last week, UFC boss Dana White shockingly announced that Islam Makhachev has vacated his lightweight title, despite revealing his earlier plan to hold onto his belt even though he was moving up to welterweight.
And with that, the UFC 317 main event was finally announced, as Ilia Topuria is set to clash against Charles Oliveira for the vacant 155lb title.
However, Justin Gaethje has been a longtime contender in the lightweight division, and following his exciting win over Rafael Fiziev at UFC 313, ‘The Highlight’ believed he could be in a prime position for a title shot.
Justin Gaethje left seething after finding out about UFC 317 title fight
One of Makhachev’s reasons for moving up in weight is because he believed there were no worthy contenders and that he had cleared out the division.
Despite that, the Russian highlighted Gaethje as his ‘ideal opponent’, stating that he is a true lightweight after defending his title against a series of featherweights.
Although the former interim lightweight champion was highlighted as Makhachev’s ideal opponent, he missed out on the vacant title fight at UFC 317, which according to Jon Anik, left him seething.
“So after Max Holloway knocked out Justin Gaethje, he played golf for 180 straight days, and he’s gotten really f—— good,” Anik began to explain on the Anik & Florian Podcast.
“I was with Justin Gaethje a lot this week… And he was p—–, he feels like certainly he was passed over in favor of Charles Oliveira for this opportunity against Ilia Topuria and I think what Justin Gaethje and his manager Ali Abdelaziz are looking for, is just some sort of guarantee they will be next,” Anik continued.
‘Do Bronx’ Oliveira is 2-2 in his last four fights, with his only two wins coming against Beneil Dariush and Michael Chandler, making Gaethje’s frustration valid.
Justin Gaethje’s next fight could come against soaring star
Although the 36-year-old is looking for some sort of guarantee that he will be fighting for the title next, he may have to pick up one more win in the meantime to secure that guarantee.
Despite the fact that ‘The Highlight’ could probably wait for the culmination of UFC 317 and fight the winner later this year, he has already been called out by Paddy Pimblett.
With ‘The Baddy’ soaring through the lightweight division and already having a history with Topuria, he could end up leapfrogging Gaethje next for the title shot.
Gaethje’s title shot guarantee could come with a win over the soaring Brit, in what would be an incredible fight.