Justin Gaethje has a time and a place in mind for UFC Lightweight Champion Ilia Topuria.
The former UFC Interim Lightweight Champion and BMF Champion is 0-2 in undisputed title fights but Gaethje hopes the third time is the charm against the newly crowned Ilia Topuria.
Topuria won the lightweight title last weekend with a first-round knockout of Charles Oliveira at UFC 317. Gaethje was in attendance cageside, but he was denied a call-out and a face-off that went to Paddy Pimblett and Arman Tsarukyan instead.
Feeling he’s ‘owed’ a title fight after winning three out of his last four fights, Gaethje threatened to retire if he wasn’t given a title opportunity. He might not have to, as Topuria’s manager claimed Gaethje is the ‘closest’ contender to getting a fight with ‘El Matador’.
Touted as a tough matchup for Topuria because of his devastating leg kicks, Gaethje has given his first take on the new champion.
Justin Gaethje says he’d love to KO Ilia Topuria at Madison Square Garden
Potentially one fight away from $1M in performance bonuses, the heavy-handed Gaethje is arguably the most exciting fighter in the UFC.
Even so, Topuria doesn’t think of the former BMF champion as a ‘legend’ and wasn’t all that interested in fighting him after Oliveira.
So, what does the credentialed Gaethje think of the lightweight division’s newest KO artist?
“Topuria is the big name right now,” Gaethje told Austin Keen while surfing, days before UFC 317.
“Cocky,” Gaethje said of Topuria, who was correct in his pre-fight prediction that he’d knock out Oliveira in the first round.
“I would love to knock him out…”
Gaethje said he had hoped the UFC 317 main event would end in a KO and that he’d want to fight the winner in November in Madison Square Garden, where the UFC tends to go in the fall. This is where Gaethje won the ‘2021 Fight of the Year’ against Michael Chandler at UFC 268.
Gaethje is coming off a near-finish of top contender Rafael Fiziev at UFC 313 in March after his original opponent Dan Hooker pulled out of the bout.
Ilia Topuria could continue fan-favorite storyline against Justin Gaethje
While Topuria didn’t call out Gaethje after his second title win, ‘The Highlight’ fits the description of his last three opponents.
Charles Oliveira, Max Holloway, and Alexander Volkanovski are all fan-favorites within the UFC, and one by one, they have gone down at the hands of the powerful Topuria.
Gaethje is among the UFC’s most dangerous knockout artists, with wins over Dustin Poirier, Tony Ferguson, Michael Chandler, Rafael Fiziev (x2), Michael Johnson, Edson Barboza, Donald Cerrone—the list goes on.
If Topuria were to fight and knock out Gaethje in his next title fight, there would be discussions of the lightweight champion having the best four-fight streak in UFC history.