Outside Source
Everybody and their brother tried to step up and fight UFC star Justin Gaethje.
On Wednesday, UFC 313 took a major hit when Dan Hooker was forced out of his co-headliner against Gaethje (25-5) due to injury. The two lightweights were set to collide for a non-championship five-round affair at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. After much consideration and several names offered to the UFC, the promotion selected Rafael Fiziev (12-3) as Hooker’s replacement, setting up a rematch dating back a few years.
According to Gaethje on Thursday, multiple names were in contention as new foes. Some were shut down by the organization, and others ultimately declined the offer. “The Highlight” stated that Arman Tsarukyan, Charles Oliveira, Max Holloway and Dustin Poirier all were offered to step in and declined for unknown reasons. Mateusz Gamrot also publicly campaigned for the spot. Even ex-featherweight king Ilia Topuria was floated as a possible adversary. Instead of those names, the UFC went with Fiziev. Gaethje and the muay thai coach out of Kazakhstan first collided at UFC 286 in 2023, where Gaethje picked up a majority decision win in an ultra-close thriller.
In a conversation with Sherdog, Oliveira’s trainer and manager, Diego Lima, disputed part of Gaethje’s story.
“I never negotiated Charles to fight Gaethje in UFC 313,” the Chute Boxe coach said flatly. “It makes sense that he asked everyone who is ranked higher than him, but that doesn’t mean the UFC called everyone. Charles was not even offered this possibility. Sometimes what we want is not what UFC wants.”
With the fight less than two weeks away, conditions were not optimal for former champion Oliveira to slot in as a replacement. According to Lima, Oliveira has his sights firmly set on championship bouts.
“We have an excellent relationship with the UFC and we have always made it clear that our preference would be to fight for the belt with Makhachev, but if he is only going to fight at the end of the year, it doesn’t make sense for Charles to wait without fighting. So, a super fight for the BMF belt with Holloway would be excellent, [and Holloway] also approved the idea. But I don’t know what the UFC’s plans are. With Topuria’s rise, he would face Makhachev directly. If Makhachev moves up, they would put Charles and Topuria for the belt. There are many variables, so at the moment we are waiting for the next steps, but our preference would be to fight two title fights, against Makhachev, Holloway or Topuria,” Coach Lima concluded.
Sherdog also reached out to Renato “Money” Moicano, yet another name that was to be picked out of a proverbial hat. “Money” last competed in January for a title shot, taking that fight the day before it took place. While he ultimately fell short, getting submitted in the first round by Islam Makhachev, he was still on the UFC’s shortlist to call for a big battle like this. “Moicano” confirmed that the UFC did offer him the fight, but he had to turn it down due to an impossible weight cut.
“I’m weighing 190 lbs.; I weighed 188 lbs. after my last sparring,” the Brazilian noted. “The UFC didn’t want a catchweight. I tried to postpone to [the fight to the] other event but they didn’t want [that].”
On Friday morning, Poirier spoke up about the possibility of him turning down a fight. Rather succinctly, “The Diamond” wrote on social media, “I never got the call, I didn’t say no.” Finally, Tsarukyan suggested that while he did not directly say no to the UFC, he asked for a catchweight at 160 pounds that the company would not grant.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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