Justin Gaethje has made it clear that winning the UFC lightweight title is his first priority, which puts any “BMF” title talk on the back-burner for now.
That includes a fantasy matchup with Jorge Masvidal, which “Gamebred” has spoken about in recent interviews due to his teammate Dustin Poirier losing to Gaethje in a battle for the gimmick belt at UFC 291. Masvidal insists that it’s nothing personal, but the inaugural BMF champion has entertained the idea of fighting Gaethje somewhere down the road should he return from retirement.
At a Q&A in Sydney, Australia, on Friday, Gaethe was asked about fighting Masvidal and he agreed that the timing isn’t right for that matchup yet.
“Sounds fun,” Gaethje said. “But I have one goal, it’s the undisputed championship. I have plenty of time after that to fight those fights. I don’t think [Masvidal is] ever coming back. He looks like he weighs 240 pounds. I fight at 155 pounds, I’m sure he’d want to fight at 170.”
Gaethje’s consecutive wins over Poirier and Rafael Fiziev have bolstered his already impressive résumé and his reputation as one of the most exciting fighters in UFC history puts him in a strong position to challenge the winner of the UFC 294 main event on Oct. 21 that sees lightweight champion Islam Makhachev defend in a rematch against Charles Oliveira.
Focused solely on finally earning undisputed status at 155 pounds, Gaethje is leaning towards his own rematch with Oliveira though he is prepared to be Makhachev’s next challenger.
“I guess I prefer Oliveira, but I really do think Makhachev’s going to win and I’m very excited about the new challenge, absolutely,” Gaethje said.
In the event that Gaethje does put his BMF title up for grabs sometime, any number of names could step up to the plate, with the popular Conor McGregor being one that is brought up often. Even Gaethje has to admit that the thought of earning a definitive win over McGregor appeals to him greatly.
“I’d be lying if I didn’t say I’d dreamt of ending his career and making sure that he’d never be able to step back in there,” Gaethje said. “[Michael] Chandler will now be the second guy that I’ve beaten that he chose to fight and I think that speaks for itself. He won’t fight me, plain and simple.”