Justin Gaethje is furious about not fighting for title at UFC 317, claims popular MMA personality

It appears Justin Gaethje is none too pleased about not getting a lightweight title shot at UFC 317.

The two men fighting for the vacant UFC Lightweight Championship on June 28 will be Ilia Topuria and Charles Oliveira. “El Matador’s” title opportunity was a given since he vacated the 145-pound gold. The other spot belongs to “do Bronx,” who has a submission finish over Gaethje.

Regardless. it looks like “The Highlight” is not happy.

RELATED: JUSTIN GAETHJE’S MANAGER BELIEVES HE SHOULD BE #1 CONTENDER AT LIGHTWEIGHT

Gaethje Upset Over Title Skip, Says Jon Anik

During a recent episode of “The Anik & Florian Podcast,” UFC play-by-play ace Jon Anik claimed that Justin Gaethje isn’t in a pleasant mood after failing to secure the next lightweight title fight (h/t MMAFighting).

“He was pissed,” Anik said on The Anik & Florian Podcast. “He feels like certainly he was passed over in favor of Charles Oliveira for this opportunity against Ilia Topuria and I think what Justin Gaethje and his manager Ali Abdelaziz are looking for is just some sort of guarantee that they will be next because it’s May 19 and the good news for this Topuria-Oliveira fight is that it’s f*cking June 28, it’s less than six weeks away. So I don’t think it’s a crazy request for Justin, having done what he did against Rafael Fiziev, staying on the fight card, not fighting Dan Hooker, getting a win, distance from the UFC 300 result—and by the way, he fought at UFC 300 to help the UFC when he could have fought for the undisputed championship at that point in time—so I wouldn’t be surprised if Gaethje gets some sort of guarantee that he’s next for the Topuria-Oliveira winner.

“But I can just tell you Justin was not thrilled.”

Gaethje last competed in March, scoring a unanimous decision victory over Rafael Fiziev in their rematch. Like their first encounter back in 2023, the second meeting between Gaethje and Fiziev earned “Fight of the Night” honors. The win put Gaethje at 3-1 in his last four outings.

Time will tell if Gaethje could still be due for another title shot before 2025 comes to a close.