The BMF title holder Justin Gaethje is looking to add another title to his resume as he has called out UFC Lightweight champion Islam Makhachev. It is believed that Charles Oliveira will get a title shot before Gaethje, however, ‘The Highlight’ claims that Oliveira’s chance is gone and he should be next in line.
The UFC’s official X account posted a throwback to Gathje’s stunning leg-kick KO of Dustin Poirier. Gaethje defeated Poirier to lay his hands on the vacant BMF title at UFC 291.
Waiting on the call. Ready when you are @ufc @danawhite Let’s see who can kick the others head off first @MAKHACHEVMMA Do Bronx had his shot and didn’t show up for the rematch. It is what it is. https://t.co/Wg83vtmLHm
— Justin Gaethje 🇺🇸 (@Justin_Gaethje) December 26, 2023
The former interim Lightweight champion reposted the video and wrote, “Waiting on the call. Ready when you are @ufc @danawhite Let’s see who can kick the others head off first @MAKHACHEVMMA [Islam Makhachev] Do Bronx [Charles Oliveira] had his shot and didn’t show up for the rematch. It is what it is.”
The Dagestani fighter was set to defend his Lightweight title against Oliveira at UFC 294. However, Oliveira had to pull out due to injury and Alexander Volkanovski stepped in to replace him. Volkanovski, who tasted defeat against Makhachev at UFC 284, was knocked out by Makhachev via head kick for another defeat.
Fans, however, believe Gaethje has asked for one too many title shots. The Arizona-born fighter has lost two title shots already. One fan on Reddit wrote, “Tired of justin calling for title shots after 1 or 2 fights doesnt make sense.”
Comment
byu/One_Program8405 from discussion
inufc
Another fan wrote, “He will get submitted again and he will ask for a 4th title shot.”
Meanwhile, one fan showed interest in the fight. They wrote, “I want this fight not because Gaethje deserves it but because it will 100% be interesting to watch.”
Reports suggest that Makhachev will not be fighting anytime soon. Gaethje, on the other hand, was called out by Max Holloway for the BMF title at UFC 300.
Justin Gaethje is willing to wait for a UFC Lightweight title fight against Islam Makhachev
Max Holloway suggested a fight “for the fans” as he called out ‘The Highlight’ for a BMF title bout. Holloway would have made the jump to Lightweight to fight Gathje. However, Gaethje refused to fight Holloway.
In an interview with ESPN, Gaethje said, “I don’t ever want to fight Holloway… I don’t know, I just don’t ever – I don’t want to punch him. I just don’t. It’s not necessary. … I like him too much. I like him. He’s a good dude.”
He was more interested in waiting for the title fight than fighting Holloway. He claimed that even if Oliveira got the rematch, he would wait and fight the winner. “If they want to put Oliveira in there, then I fight (the winner) in September,” Gaethje said. “Who do I fight? There’s no one. I did what I had to do. I went back, I fought No. 7, fought No. 2, I don’t know what else I need to do. I’ll definitely wait. I have no issues waiting.”
Any official news is yet to be announced by Dana White. On the other hand, Chael Sonnen has claimed that a Gaethje vs Holloway fight is in the works for UFC 300. It will be interesting to see how this pans out.