Justin Gaethje doesn’t have a desire to operate it like Ilia Topuria anytime soon. The Highlight has recently earned the UFC title at Topuria’s UFC Freedom 250 fight, but it doesn’t appear that an immediate rematch is in the cards.
The MMA world was left astonished when Gaethje gave Topuria his first-ever defeat. Thousands of fans had hoped Topuria would want to get his revenge right away, but Gaethje feels the ex-unbeaten star didn’t get the job done.
Arman Tsarukyan is the fighter who deserves the next UFC lightweight title shot more than anyone else, Gaethje says. Tsarukyan has been steadily making his way up the division, amassing dangerous wrestling points, disturbing turnbuckling, and a serious winning streak. It makes Gaethje a better bet than Topuria, who emerged from a clean-sweep loss.
“It wasn’t good luck that got him to beat Topuria,” Gaethje told reporters. He didn’t hit a random knockout or get away with an inopportune call. He says he actually knocked Topuria’s ass down and says that he should go back in the cage and work for it.
This is further fuel to the lightweight division. There are some big names all on the list around the title picture, such as Charles Oliveira, Max Holloway, Arman Tsarukyan, and Ilia Topuria. However, it appears that Topuria is not going to be first in line, according to Gaethje.
The champ also wondered if Topuria could potentially remain at lightweight or even drop back to featherweight. That is a big unknown, and it makes the rematch less likely for the time being.
However, Gaethje never downplayed Topuria’s ability. He acknowledged that Topuria is a “battling machine” and said that “the next person to take on a battle with him may be in trouble. However, one thing’s certain: that opponent will NOT be Justin Gaethje.
So far, the biggest battle will be between Justin Gaethje and Arman Tsarukyan. It is fresh, it has title stakes, and it has a good sporting reason for it.
