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UFC president Dana White has revealed that lightweight contender Justin Gaethje will fight Charles Oliveira next.
According to MMA Junkie’s Nolan King, Dana White made the revelation above on an ESPN+ live stream. King tweeted that White suggested Justin Gaethje’s next fight will “probably” be against Charles Oliveira.
In May 2020, Justin Gaethje impressively defeated Tony Ferguson and broke the latter’s 12-fight winning streak. He bested Ferguson via fifth-round TKO and won the interim UFC lightweight title. Gaethje subsequently faced Khabib Nurmagomedov in a UFC lightweight title unification matchup last October but lost via second-round submission.
On the other hand, Charles Oliveira is currently on an eight-fight winning streak. Oliveira’s last fight was a unanimous decision victory over Tony Ferguson in December 2020.
Following Charles Oliveira’s dominant win over Tony Ferguson, the vast majority of MMA fans and experts believe that Oliveira could receive the next shot at the UFC lightweight title. Alternatively, Oliveira could, at the very least, be booked in a No. 1 contender’s matchup in his next fight.
Justin Gaethje aims to return to his winning ways after his loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov
Justin Gaethje is widely regarded as one of the most exciting fighters in the sport of MMA today. The Highlight suffered a vicious technical submission loss to UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov in their fight last October. Gaethje was rendered unconscious inside the octagon by Nurmagomedov’s triangle choke but thankfully regained consciousness. Gaethje gradually recovered and has gotten back to training.
Furthermore, Gaethje subsequently asserted that he’d like to return to the win column and isn’t giving up on his quest to win the undisputed UFC lightweight title. That said, the title picture in the division is somewhat unclear right now. Khabib Nurmagomedov is still the UFC lightweight champion, despite having retired from MMA after his win over Gaethje in October 2020.
UFC president Dana White had recently stated that he plans on meeting Nurmagomedov to discuss his MMA future. White and Nurmagomedov’s discussions regarding his career are expected to conclude this month, and this would help the UFC decide whether or not they have to strip him of the lightweight title.
If Nurmagomedov chooses not to end his retirement, he’ll most definitely be stripped of the UFC lightweight title. In that case, the Justin Gaethje vs Charles Oliveira fight winner could face the winner of the upcoming Conor McGregor vs Dustin Poirier fight for the vacant UFC lightweight title.
