Justin Gaethje isn’t giving Ilia Topuria a quick do-over.
The lightweight champion battered Topuria for four rounds at UFC Freedom 250 on the White House South Lawn last month before the corner threw in the towel, one of the biggest upsets the sport has produced. Topuria’s team has floated a December rematch. Gaethje shut that down flat with RMC Sport Combat.
No, he’s not fighting me next. Why would he fight me next? Arman [Tsarukyan] deserves it way more than him, and a couple of fights are going to happen between now and then [December].
His reasoning is that there’s nothing to avenge.
I didn’t knock him out. I didn’t get lucky. I beat him up. He’s going to have to get a win before he fights for a championship. He might go back to 145lbs. We don’t know what Ilia is doing.
Gaethje then turned it back on his interviewer, questioning whether Topuria has even asked.
Are you his manager? Do you work for Ilia? Do you think he should fight me next over [Charles] Oliveira, [Max] Holloway, and Tsarukyan? No, he didn’t say he wanted a rematch. If I hear him use his mouth and say, ‘I want a rematch,’ I’ll be very surprised.
He still gave Topuria his due.
We haven’t even seen him. The kid is good. Whoever fights him next is going to be in trouble, but it ain’t gonna be me.
The comments line up with what his manager, Ali Abdelaziz, said recently: that Gaethje’s first defense would come against someone he’s never faced. That points squarely at Tsarukyan, the top contender and the only man in the lightweight top five Gaethje hasn’t shared the octagon with. Gaethje has also indicated he’s unlikely to fight again in 2026 after beating both Paddy Pimblett and Topuria this year.
