Justin Gaethje will be eyeing UFC 269 next month more closely than most. It’s all but confirmed that he’ll be next in line to fight the winner of the main event, a lightweight title bout between defending champ Charles Oliveira and challenger Dustin Poirier.
Gaethje has long maintained that Oliveira lacks the fighting heart and iron endurance that makes a true champion. In a recent interview with MMAFighting.com, he doubled down on the position.
Justin Gaethje on “Quitter” Champ Oliveira: “There’s No Dog In That Man”
“I am so interested in that fight. I will never take back what I’ve said about him until he gets in there and does what Michael Chandler does and f*cking proves me wrong. There is no dog bigger or meaner than me in that cage.
His skills are f*cking phenomenal but there’s no dog in that man. I will constantly and consistently say that and when I get a chance, I know for a fact that I will show everybody that.” Gaethje, a few months back, blasted Oliveira as a “Quitter”.
“So if he wins, I would love to fight Charles Oliveira, because I will show you what I’m saying. He’s a quitter. He is a quitter. He showed it to you in the Michael Chandler fight. At the end of the first round, he was not looking good, he didn’t want to be there. He doesn’t want to be there when it gets nasty. That’s just what I think, that’s my opinion. And Poirier is going to beat him up.”
Justin Gaethje, ultimately, doesn’t really mind who he fights as long as there’s a belt on the line. “It doesn’t affect me one way or another. Either way, if that happens, I still get to fight for the belt. It doesn’t matter who. That’s it. That’s all that matters.
Charles, Dustin, does not matter. They’re both so intriguing. They both fire me up. Believe me, I’ll be waking up, fired up, working until then.”
Gaethje has long awaited his chance to earn a title. Last year, he challenged then-champ Khabib Nurmagomedov for the belt, only for Khabib to defeat him via submission. Nurmagomedov retired that same night, vacating the belt, and leaving Justin Gaethje’s destiny in the lightweight division uncertain.
With the power vacuum created by Khabib’s absence, the vacant title went to a bout between former Bellator champ Michael Chandler and Charles Oliveira, with Oliveira winning the fight via second-round TKO.
Do you think Justin Gaethje will defeat Charles Oliveira if they fight? Let us know in the comments.
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