Justin
Gaethje hopes the third time’s the charm when it comes to the
UFC lightweight title.
Advertisement
After a brutal knockout loss to Max
Holloway last April, “The Highlight” returned to the win column
with a hard-fought unanimous decision triumph over Rafael
Fiziev in the UFC 313
co-main event at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday night.
It was Gaethje’s second victory over Fiziev, who stepped in on
short notice after Dan Hooker
withdrew from the event with a broken hand.
Gaethje is a fan favorite and one of the promotion’s most notorious
action fighters, so he won’t be lacking for options when it comes
to his next bout. At Saturday’s post-fight press conference,
Gaethje made it clear where his ambitions lie.
“I want to fight for the belt, obviously,” Gaethje said. “That’s a
much different matchup than the one I just had. They tried to give
me a doughnut. I took a bite, but I’ve got to get back to running
if I’m going to fight [Islam] Makahchev.”
Gaethje has won three of his last four UFC outings, and it could
work in his favor that he’s an opponent that Makhachev has not yet
faced at 155 pounds. The former
World Series of Fighting title holder has fought for the
lightweight title on two previous occasions, falling to Khabib
Nurmagomedov via second-round submission at UFC 254 in October
2020 and losing to Charles
Oliveira via first-round submission at UFC 274 in May 2022.
While it’s unclear if the victory over Fiziev is enough to propel
Gaethje to No. 1 contender status, he did shoot down the
possibility of one alternative: a trilogy against Dustin
Poirier. Gaethje suffered a fourth-round TKO loss to “The
Diamond” in their first meeting at UFC on Fox 29 but exacted his
revenge in the rematch, capturing the BMF crown with a head-kick
knockout at UFC 291.
“I’ve stated many times that I don’t think that either one of our
families deserve that,” Gaethje said. “We’re 1-1. I’m OK with it.
If he’s OK with it, then no. I think we’re contenders, but if we
beat other people. If I beat him, I don’t think either one of us
would be considered a contender.”