Justin Gaethje won’t be happy with fighting Paddy Pimblett instead of Ilia Topuria

UFC star Justin Gaethje has admitted he wouldn’t be happy if he were given Paddy Pimblett instead of a UFC lightweight title shot.

As we know, Justin Gaethje isn’t particularly happy right now. In the wake of his recent win over Rafael Fiziev, ‘The Highlight’ has made it crystal clear that he wants to be given a UFC lightweight championship opportunity. Unfortunately, he appears to be at something of a stalemate with the promotion.

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Regardless of whether you love him or hate him, there’s no denying that Gaethje is in a tough spot. Things are looking pretty jammed at the top of the pile at 155 pounds, and in order to earn a title opportunity, you need to do something special. At this point, we’re still being left to wait and see what kind of fight Justin ends up with – although Paddy Pimblett has been floated as a possibility in a title eliminator.

According to Gaethje himself, though, the Pimblett fight being offered may well be what pushes him over the edge.

Gaethje’s view on possible Pimblett shot

“Absolutely not (fighting Pimblett),” Gaethje said. “If that’s the route that they want me to take, then I don’t believe that they need me anymore. I know that sounds petty or whatever, but I’m No. 3, I’m 3-1 in my last four, the champion (Islam Makhachev) was calling to fight me and he vacated. They bring a new guy in and give a guy who is 2-2 the fight. If their algorithm and their match tells them to just use me until I get beat, then I’m going to have to really reevaluate what I’m doing here.

“I’ve signed up for a merit-based system. I have lived by that. If they want to give Arman, which Arman had the fight, then I had the fight and I took someone else. He had the fight and pulled out. Those are two different scenarios. For me to get put in the same position and fight for my spot, then I’m going to be upset about that.”

Quotes via MMA Junkie