Justin Gaethje should be fighting Ilia Topuria for UFC gold instead of Charles Oliveira, says top MMA coach

One renowned MMA coach believes the UFC missed out on a more exciting vacant lightweight title fight.

Islam Makhachev will no longer be the UFC Lightweight Champion once the UFC 317 main event between Ilia Topuria and Charles Oliveira begins. Many fans and experts are looking forward to seeing Topuria and Oliveira share the Octagon. Still, there are some who feel a better option than “do Bronx” was on the table.

Count longtime coach Din Thomas as one of those who vouched for Justin Gaethje.

RELATED: JUSTIN GAETHJE IS FURIOUS ABOUT NOT FIGHTING FOR TITLE AT UFC 317, CLAIMS POPULAR MMA PERSONALITY

Gaethje Over Oliveira?

Appearing on the “FightCourt” podcast, popular coach and UFC analyst Din Thomas explained why he would’ve preferred to see Ilia Topuria take on Justin Gaethje (h/t MMAJunkie).

“I think that would have excited me more, too,” Thomas said of Topuria vs. Gaethje on his “FightCourt” podcast. “I think the only other reason I could see them not giving it to Gaethje is maybe just the lasting impression of him getting knocked out by Max (Holloway) might have hurt his stock a little bit in terms of championship aspirations.

“It’s tough to say where Gaethje even goes from here. Do you put him against Arman (Tsarukyan)? I would much rather have seen him fight Ilia, honestly. I would much rather have seen that. Maybe he did get kind of passed up, and it was just based on our own perceptions and bias towards Charles, just almost accepting that he deserved to be in that spot and I didn’t even question it.”

Oliveira has gone 2-2 in his last four outings with losses against Islam Makhachev and Arman Tsarukyan. The wins were against Beneil Dariush and Michael Chandler. Oliveira is the No. 2-ranked UFC lightweight and there wasn’t much backlash over him being booked in the vacant lightweight title fight, given his resume.