Justin Gaethje was reportedly “pissed” after being handed up for a light-weight title combat with Ilia Topuria.
Instantly after saying that Islam Makhachev had vacated his 155-pound belt to maneuver up and problem newly minted welterweight champion Jack Della Maddalena, Dana White revealed that former featherweight king Ilia Topuria would combat Charles Oliviera at UFC 317 on June 29, the winner leaving Las Vegas as the following light-weight world titleholder.
After successful three straight in his division, together with a pair of victories over Rafael Fiziev, Gaethje figured he was the following man in line for a shot on the gold.
Particularly contemplating Oliveira’s final two appearances contained in the Octagon resulted in a loss to Arman Tsarukyan and a call win over perpetual punching bag Michael Chandler.
“He was pissed,” UFC play-by-play man, Jon Anik, mentioned of Gaethje on The Anik & Florian Podcast. “He appears like definitely he was handed over in favor of Charles Oliveira for this chance in opposition to Ilia Topuria and I believe what Justin Gaethje and his supervisor Ali Abdelaziz are searching for is just a few form of assure that they are going to be subsequent as a result of it’s Might 19 and the excellent news for this Topuria-Oliveira combat is that it’s June 28, it’s lower than six weeks away.”
Jon Anik thinks Justin Gaethje’s request for a ‘assured’ title combat is cheap
With Worldwide Struggle Week proper across the nook, chances are high the UFC is already eyeing potential challengers for the winner of Topuria vs. Oliveira. And with no clear-cut contender in place, except for Tsarukyan who’s nonetheless within the UFC canine home, Anik doesn’t suppose Gaethje’s request is all that unreasonable.
“I don’t suppose it’s a loopy request for Justin,” Anik continued. “Having completed what he did in opposition to Rafael Fiziev, staying on the combat card, not combating Dan Hooker, getting a win, distance from the UFC 300 end result — and by the best way, he fought at UFC 300 to assist the UFC when he may have fought for the undisputed championship at that time limit.
“So I wouldn’t be shocked if Gaethje will get some form of assure that he’s subsequent for the Topuria-Oliveira winner. However I can simply inform you Justin was not thrilled.”
