Following the incredible UFC 317 event this past Saturday, UFC boss Dana White reacted to Justin Gaethje’s retirement ultimatum.
This past Saturday at UFC 317, Ilia Topuria knocked Charles Oliveira out cold in the first round to become the new UFC lightweight champion, winning the vacant belt.
Immediately after the fight, Topuria was faced with his potential next opponent as Paddy Pimblett stepped into the cage for an impromptu face off.
During the UFC 317 post-fight press conference, UFC boss Dana White expressed that he didn’t like that they allowed Pimblett into the cage and that it shouldn’t have happened.
Dana White suggests Justin Gaethje retires after title fight ultimatum
Ahead of the fight, Ilia Topuria claimed that Arman Tsarukyan would be the most deserving next title challenger, especially after he weighed in as a back-up for the main event.
Despite that, White revealed before the fight that Tsarukyan isn’t next in line despite his back-up role, leaving the door open for other contenders.
Another contender who is hopeful that he will be granted another title shot is former interim champion Justin Gaethje. ‘The Highlight’ recently made a bold claim that he will retire if he isn’t given the next title shot.
However, following the fight, White reacted to Gaethje’s retirement ultimatum, saying: “Listen, everybody has their opinions on, listen, if you’re thinking about retiring, you know how I feel about that, you should probably retire.
“We love Justin Gaethje and Justin Gaethje did step up and he’s been an exciting and fun fighter to have here in the UFC but to say unless you give me a title shot otherwise I’m retiring, that’s pretty whacky.”
Who will be next for Ilia Topuria?
At this point it is relatively unclear who ‘El Matador’ will defend his lightweight title against first considering White has stated that it won’t be Tsarukyan.
However, although he wasn’t keen on the face off between the Spaniard and Pimblett, that is seemingly the direction the promotion may go in as it would be a huge super fight that would attract worldwide attention.