He deserves the time off

There’s been a lot said about Justin Gaethje’s future after his win at UFC Freedom 250. The American had threatened to quit the UFC if he didn’t get a title shot, and it was suggested that his mother wanted him to hang up the gloves after his win at the White House.

Gaethje finally became the undisputed UFC lightweight champion after beating Ilia Topuria at UFC Freedom 250.

While there hasn’t been a confirmation of when Gaethje fights again or even if he will return to the octagon, his manager has cleared the air somewhat regarding ‘The Highlight’s’ potential comeback.

Speaking to MMA Junkie, Abdelaziz confirmed that Gaethje would be back in 2027 but only for a big fight:

“2027 we will see Justin Gaethje fighting. He fought two times this year. He deserves the time off. He’s still the lightweight champion, undisputed, and I think all these guys have to chase him. But he wants to be in a big fight, a big, big fight. What is the big fight? Who decides that? It’s Dana White who decides what’s the biggest fight they can make.”

There are many suitors for Gaethje presently with Charles Oliveira and Arman Tsarukyan being a couple of names touted.

While Gaethje should fight again in 2027, Abdelaziz claimed that he would be satisfied if ‘The Highlight’ called it a day and hung his gloves:

“If he retired today, I will be so happy because he did everything. And if he wants to choose to fight one more time, he can fight one more time because nobody tells him what to do. He’s the boss. At the end of the day, it just has to be a massive fight.”

Justin Gaethje denies Ilia Topuria a rematch

There have been some sections gunning for a rematch between Justin Gaethje and Ilia Topuria. ‘El Matador’ came into the fight as the lightweight champion, and was undefeated in his MMA career.

However, Gaethje produced a performance for the ages and made Topuria quit after the fourth round. The former champion has been recuperating after suffering several injuries from the fight, and ‘The Highlight’ also isn’t keen on this rematch.

While speaking to RMC Sport Combat, Gaethje explained why Topuria wouldn’t get the rematch and also named other fighters who deserved it more:

“He’s not fighting me next. Why would he fight me next? Arman deserves it way more than him. And then a couple of fights are gonna happen between now and then. I didn’t knock him out. I didn’t get lucky. I beat him up. He’s gonna have to get a win before he fights for a championship. He might go back to 145 [pounds]. We don’t know what he is doing… You think he should fight me next over everybody else, or [Charles] Oliveira over [Max] Holloway? Or Tsarukyan?”