Justin Gaethje Maintains Championship Aspirations Following UFC 313 Triumph

Justin Gaethje hopes the third time’s the charm when it comes to the UFC lightweight title.

After a brutal knockout loss to Max Holloway last April, “The Highlight” returned to the win column with a hard-fought unanimous decision triumph over Rafael Fiziev in the UFC 313 co-main event at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday night. It was Gaethje’s second victory over Fiziev, who stepped in on short notice after Dan Hooker withdrew from the event with a broken hand.

Gaethje is a fan favorite and one of the promotion’s most notorious action fighters, so he won’t be lacking for options when it comes to his next bout. At Saturday’s post-fight press conference, Gaethje made it clear where his ambitions lie.

“I want to fight for the belt, obviously,” Gaethje said. “That’s a much different matchup than the one I just had. They tried to give me a doughnut. I took a bite, but I’ve got to get back to running if I’m going to fight [Islam] Makahchev.”

Gaethje has won three of his last four UFC outings, and it could work in his favor that he’s an opponent that Makhachev has not yet faced at 155 pounds. The former World Series of Fighting title holder has fought for the lightweight title on two previous occasions, falling to Khabib Nurmagomedov via second-round submission at UFC 254 in October 2020 and losing to Charles Oliveira via first-round submission at UFC 274 in May 2022.

While it’s unclear if the victory over Fiziev is enough to propel Gaethje to No. 1 contender status, he did shoot down the possibility of one alternative: a trilogy against Dustin Poirier. Gaethje suffered a fourth-round TKO loss to “The Diamond” in their first meeting at UFC on Fox 29 but exacted his revenge in the rematch, capturing the BMF crown with a head-kick knockout at UFC 291.

“I’ve stated many times that I don’t think that either one of our families deserve that,” Gaethje said. “We’re 1-1. I’m OK with it. If he’s OK with it, then no. I think we’re contenders, but if we beat other people. If I beat him, I don’t think either one of us would be considered a contender.”