Outside Source
Justin Gaethje doesn’t think Ilia Topuria will ever be the same after their UFC White House fight. | Getty/UFC
Justin Gaethje doesn’t sound like he’s ready to call it a career.
But when he is ready to return to the Octagon, it likely won’t be against Ilia Topuria — at least not until “El Matador” picks up another victory.
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“Right now I’m planning on [continuing],” Gaethje said recently on ”The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast podcast. “There’s not something natural in me that feels like it’s over. I can’t say that I have a name. [Ilia] doesn’t get a rematch. He can try but he doesn’t get one. He quit on the stool, I stopped him twice, what else do I have to f—ing do?
“His next challenge can’t be me. He needs to fight Paddy [Pimblett] or someone like that.”
Gaethje entered UFC White House as a significant underdog against Topuria, the undisputed lightweight champion. While Topuria enjoyed a strong second round, the rest of the bout belonged to Gaethje, who battered the previously undefeated star until his corner called off the fight after four rounds.
Lost Aura?
Gaethje compared the performance to his UFC 249 victory over Tony Ferguson. Not only did “The Highlight” claim interim lightweight gold with that victory, but he ended Ferguson’s 12-bout promotional winning streak in the process. “El Cucuy” was never the same after that, and he exited the UFC on an eight-fight skid. Gaethje doesn’t see Topuria returning to his previous form after taking a serious beating in the UFC White House main event. More than that, he believes Topuria has lost the mystique that he possessed as an unbeaten fighter.
“The odds are f==king great against that right now,” Gaethje said. “I hope he does [bounce back], and I know he has the skill to be a champion again. However, same thing with Tony Ferguson. I didn’t break Tony Ferguson’s confidence. I changed the perception of his opponents of him and that is a huge factor when you go in there. …
“Before this, he was the guy you couldn’t get through, that you couldn’t push through, that you couldn’t survive with. And once I showed people that all you’ve got to do is get through that, then nobody is ever going to go in there thinking he’s unbeatable now. And that was his identity. That’s going to be such a tough task for him, to fight people that aren’t scared of him.”
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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