Still competing next weekend at UFC 311, Justin Gaethje will look to catapult himself into title contention against Islam Makhachev, with a victory against incoming former-foe, Rafael Fiziev.
Gaethje, who was first slated to co-headline next weekend’s pay-per-view card against the surging, Dan Hooker, saw the pairing fall to the wayside after the Kiwi striker fractured his left hand in the weeks ahead of the pairing.
And moving onto a fight with former opponent, Fiziev whom he initially defeated in a contentious majority decision win back at UFC 286, Gaethje admitted he would rather have taken on Arman Tsarukyan or ex-foe, Charles Oliveira first and foremost.
Justin Gaethje setting sights on Islam Makhachev fight after UFC 313
Chasing one final title charge before hanging up his decorated gloves, Arizona striker, Gaethje told The Jim Rome Show this evening how he hopes a victory over Fiziev can finally propel him to a title charge against Makhachev later this year.
“I mean, I’m always shooting for (Islam) Makachev, you know, right now he’s the champion,” Justin Gaethje explained. “And we saw with (Dustin) Poirier, you know, I beat him and then he fought for the belt. I think timing is such a huge factor in this sport.
With Charles (Oliveira) already losing to him twice (sic), him being ahead of me, (Arman) Tsarukyan having his chance and pulling out, you know, the day of the fight or the night before, is definitely detrimental to his chances,” Justin Gaethje explained. “To Poirier coming up and Makachev saying he needs to fight somebody else first, really, there’s really not a lot of guys. And so with the huge win here and certainly a finish, I think they’re [the UFC] gonna have to consider me.”
