{"id":38904,"date":"2026-06-21T20:40:28","date_gmt":"2026-06-21T20:40:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sherdog.com\/news\/news\/Justin-Gaethje-dismisses-immediate-rematch-with-Ilia-Topuria-201600"},"modified":"2026-06-21T20:40:28","modified_gmt":"2026-06-21T20:40:28","slug":"justin-gaethje-dismisses-immediate-rematch-with-ilia-topuria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/justin-gaethje-dismisses-immediate-rematch-with-ilia-topuria\/","title":{"rendered":"Justin Gaethje dismisses immediate rematch with Ilia Topuria"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nJustin Gaethje doesn’t think Ilia Topuria will ever be the same
\nafter their UFC White House fight. | Getty\/UFC<\/b><\/p>\n


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Justin
\nGaethje<\/a> doesn\u2019t sound like he\u2019s ready to call it a career.<\/p>\n

But when he is ready to return to the Octagon, it likely won\u2019t be
\nagainst Ilia
\nTopuria<\/a> \u2014 at least not until \u201cEl Matador\u201d picks up another
\nvictory.<\/p>\n

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Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cRight now I\u2019m planning on [continuing],\u201d Gaethje said recently on
\n\u201dThe Joe Rogan Experience\u201d podcast<\/a> podcast. \u201cThere\u2019s
\nnot something natural in me that feels like it\u2019s over. I can\u2019t say
\nthat I have a name. [Ilia] doesn\u2019t get a rematch. He can try but he
\ndoesn\u2019t get one. He quit on the stool, I stopped him twice, what
\nelse do I have to f\u2014ing do?<\/p>\n

\u201cHis next challenge can\u2019t be me. He needs to fight Paddy [Pimblett]\nor someone like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gaethje entered
\nUFC White House<\/a> as a significant underdog against Topuria, the
\nundisputed lightweight champion. While Topuria enjoyed a strong
\nsecond round, the rest of the bout belonged to Gaethje, who
\nbattered the previously undefeated star until his corner called off
\nthe fight after four rounds.<\/p>\n

Lost Aura?<\/h2>\n

Gaethje compared the performance to his UFC 249 victory over
\nTony
\nFerguson<\/a>. Not only did \u201cThe Highlight\u201d claim interim
\nlightweight gold with that victory, but he ended Ferguson\u2019s 12-bout
\npromotional winning streak in the process. \u201cEl Cucuy\u201d was never the
\nsame after that, and he exited the
\nUFC<\/a> on an eight-fight skid. Gaethje doesn\u2019t see Topuria
\nreturning to his previous form after taking a serious beating in
\nthe UFC White House main event. More than that, he believes Topuria
\nhas lost the mystique that he possessed as an unbeaten fighter.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe odds are f==king great against that right now,\u201d Gaethje said.
\n\u201cI hope he does [bounce back], and I know he has the skill to be a
\nchampion again. However, same thing with Tony
\nFerguson<\/a>. I didn\u2019t break Tony
\nFerguson<\/a>\u2019s confidence. I changed the perception of his
\nopponents of him and that is a huge factor when you go in there.
\n\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore this, he was the guy you couldn\u2019t get through, that you
\ncouldn\u2019t push through, that you couldn\u2019t survive with. And once I
\nshowed people that all you\u2019ve got to do is get through that, then
\nnobody is ever going to go in there thinking he\u2019s unbeatable now.
\nAnd that was his identity. That\u2019s going to be such a tough task for
\nhim, to fight people that aren\u2019t scared of him.\u201d<\/p>\n