Manager: Justin Gaethje Will Retire If He Doesn’t Receive UFC Title Shot Next

Manager Ali Abdelaziz has made a strong assertion while serving as an unofficial mouthpiece of UFC lightweight star Justin Gaethje.

With Islam Makhachev off to pursue championship dreams at 170 pounds, Ilia Topuria and Charles Oliveira will vie for the vacant lightweight belt in the UFC 317 main event on June 28. Gaethje will have a vested interested in the result of that fight, according to his manager.

“Justin Gaethje fights the winner,” Abdelaziz told Submission Radio. “He’s won three of his last four, he saved the UFC two times. They needed him, and he’s there. The guy did so much for the sport. If anyone said he doesn’t deserve it—and he said, ‘If I’m not going to fight for the title, I’m just going to hang up my gloves.’”

The former World Series of Fighting Champion is 3-1 in his last four Octagon appearances, with victories over Rafael Fiziev (twice) and Dustin Poirier to his credit. His lone loss during that time, a fifth-round knockout against Max Holloway in a lightweight bout for the BMF title at UFC 300, stood out as one of the iconic moments in the sport for 2024.

“He’s a very principled guy,” Abdelaziz said. “…He told me this yesterday. I was at the fight, he said, ‘I’m not going to get a title shot. I feel disrespected. I love being a UFC fighter, I love the UFC, but I feel the UFC has to love me back.’ And he doesn’t feel the love right now.

“But listen, at the end of the day, I think, this guy, they love him. I think they will give him what he wanted. But at the end of the day, we have to see what happens first between Charles and Ilia.”

Gaethje has built a reputation as one of the sport’s most notorious action fighters over the course of his professional tenure. He has twice challenged for lightweight gold in the UFC, falling to Khabib Nurmagomedov in 2020 and to Charles Oliveira in 2022. His 9-5 Octagon record also includes victories over the likes of Michael Chandler, Tony Ferguson, Donald Cerrone, Edson Barboza and Michael Johnson.