Justin Gaethje upset he was passed over for title shot, says he’s everything Dana White wants in a fighter

UFC lightweight Justin Gaethje is upset that he was passed over for a title shot, saying that he’s everything Dana White wants in a fighter.

The UFC recently announced that Michael Chandler will take on Charles Oliveira for the vacant title at UFC 262 on May 15 in Houston, Texas. Although Chandler and Oliveira are tremendous fighters and deserving of fighting for the belt, many fans and media were surprised when Gaethje was passed over. After all, Gaethje was the interim champ not that long ago, and his only recent loss came against UFC legend Khabib Nurmagomedov. Gaethje is ranked higher than Chandler and Oliveira, so many figured that he would be in the running to fight for the title shot. But the UFC chose to go in another direction instead.

Speaking to Full Reptile, Gaethje expressed how upset he is that he isn’t the one fighting for the belt. “The Highlight” is one of the most exciting fighters in the sport and he said that even since he was a kid, he wanted to be the kind of savage fighter that White is looking for. But despite everything he’s accomplished, the UFC decided to go another route.

“Who knows, man. I can’t talk about it a lot right now. I’m sure me talking about it is the reason I’m here in the past. Who knows? Maybe I p*ssed someone off, I don’t know. All I know is since I was 12, 13 years old, I listened to Dana White do his interviews and explain what he wanted in a fighter, and I’m that motherf*cker,” Gaethje said (via MMAjunkie.com).

“If I get disrespected, it’s gonna be hurtful because I really bought into what that man talked about. So yeah, it’ll hurt because I feel like I’m a company man from Day 1. I don’t ever wanna go anywhere else, I don’t ever want to fight anywhere else. But my principles are the most important thing to me, so we’ll see what happens.”

Do you think Justin Gaethje should have got the title shot over either Michael Chandler or Charles Oliveira?