Shouldn't gaethje fight the winner of Dariush vs. Tsarukyan?

[fortheo]

With the rumors of islam vs. Charles 2 being next, wouldn't it make all the sense in the world to keep the LW division moving and book a true number one contender bout between the winner of dariush/arman and gaethje?

It makes plenty of sense timeline wise. Islam and charles 2 isn't even booked yet. So you could likely book gaethje and the winner of dariush/arman around the same time as that title fight, and then have the winners fight.

The alternatives is just a lot of waiting, or gaethje having a fun fight against max, but that fight doesn't really do much for keeping the top of the LW division moving.

I realize a lot of people think gaethje should wait, but the guy is only on a two fight win steak since his last title fight. This will be his third chance at a undisputed title, so it seems like asking him to go on a streak longer than wins Is fair.

What do you guys think?

 

[HatKick]

I wasn't a fan when they gave Gaethje his 2nd TS off a win over Chandler, but this time he beat a streaking Fiziev and Poirier by headkick KO, who I think were both top 5. That's pretty damn good and more than any other contender has done lately. Asking him to beat another top 5 guy is... a lot to ask.
It's not like he already has a loss to the current champ so he arguably deserves it more than Oliveira.

 

[KOPPE]

more like winner of Islam vs Charles. Gaethje is a prize fighter now, he cant afford to fight these no names.

 

[fortheo]

I wasn't a fan when they gave Gaethje his 2nd TS off a win over Chandler, but this time he beat a streaking Fiziev and Poirier by headkick KO, who I think were both top 5. That's pretty damn good and more than any other contender has done lately. Asking him to beat another top 5 guy is... a lot to ask.
It's not like he already has a loss to the current champ so he arguably deserves it more than Oliveira.

I don't know. It is still just two wins since his last title shot, which he earned off one win. I don't think another win is too much to ask, but I get what you're saying. They are two nice wins.

 

[svmr_db]

Makes a lot more sense for Poirier to fight the Dariush vs Tsarukyan winner.

 

[Safton]

I'm not even sure if the Max fight is a thing yet. The only "source" I've personally seen is Ali asking if people would be interested and that gets a big old truckload of salt from me. Justin himself said back in October he wasn't interested in anything except a LW title shot as of October and shot down Max specifically as I recall... which probably has even more dire ramifications for the idea of him fighting a relative no-name.

Anyway, I think Gaethje vs. Max would be fun and in a purely mindless scrap sort of way and I can't deny that some small part of me wouldn't enjoy it... but it would be a matchmaking mess. I would much rather have Max be utilized in some way at Featherweight (like, say, welcoming Aljo to the division). Meanwhile, what if Max beats Justin? Gaethje loses his title shot and then Holloway gets inserted into the top of the queue to fight Islam/Charles out of nowhere and then we have more people complaining about how Makhachev only fights Featherweights?

As for the idea of Gaethje sitting out or staying active by fighting Arman, I dunno. He's been finished in two title fights in the past few years, which would disqualify a lot of fighters outright in my mind. But in Justin's case since the last one he put in the work to beat a #6 Fiziev and finish a #2 Poirier. That meets my criteria, especially if he is facing a fresh champ in Islam instead of Charles. I like the idea of keeping the division moving and seeing cool match-ups and I really think Gaethje vs. Dariush or Arman would be good, but I don't really expect it to happen and can't really ask it of him... wouldn't complain if it did, though.

 

[fortheo]

Makes a lot more sense for Poirier to fight the Dariush vs Tsarukyan winner.

I wouldn't be against that, but why have gaethje wait around so long?

I'm not even sure if the Max fight is a thing yet. The only "source" I've personally seen is Ali asking if people would be interested and that gets a big old truckload of salt from me. Justin himself said back in October he wasn't interested in anything except a LW title shot as of October and shot down Max specifically as I recall... which probably has even more dire ramifications for the idea of him fighting a relative no-name.

Anyway, I think Gaethje vs. Max would be fun and in a purely mindless scrap sort of way and I can't deny that some small part of me wouldn't enjoy it... but it would be a matchmaking mess. I would much rather have Max be utilized in some way at Featherweight (like, say, welcoming Aljo to the division). Meanwhile, what if Max beats Justin? Gaethje loses his title shot and then Holloway gets inserted into the top of the queue to fight Islam/Charles out of nowhere and then we have more people complaining about how Makhachev only fights Featherweights?

As for the idea of Gaethje sitting out or staying active by fighting Arman, I dunno. He's been finished in two title fights in the past few years, which would disqualify a lot of fighters outright in my mind. But in Justin's case since the last one he put in the work to beat a #6 Fiziev and finish a #2 Poirier. That meets my criteria, especially if he is facing a fresh champ in Islam instead of Charles. I like the idea of keeping the division moving and seeing cool match-ups and I really think Gaethje vs. Dariush or Arman would be good, but I don't really expect it to happen and can't really ask it of him... wouldn't complain if it did, though.

They are two nice wins, but.....it's still just two wins (one was a very close decision) and he's had multiple title shots already. I guess I just feel like it isn't unfair to ask him to get another win. I am with you, though, in that I don't expect it to happen.

 

[Safton]

I wouldn't be against that, but why have gaethje wait around so long?




They are two nice wins, but.....it's still just two wins (one was a very close decision) and he's had multiple title shots already. I guess I just feel like it isn't unfair to ask him to get another win. I am with you, though, in that I don't expect it to happen.

Mind you I don't think it's "unfair" either per se, but at the same time he's also a more convincing title contender than Oliveira or Dariush with those two wins. The only guys who come close are Arman if he beats Dariush convingly and maybe Gamrot behind him. Neither guy has a super strong case at the moment which Justin would be snubbing.

I do think it would be a different dynamic if Charles was champ, but having Islam there slightly mitigates Justin's recent title fight losses at least IMO. Again, I think it would be cool to see your proposed fight happen and settle things with a solid #1 contender, but as it stands I'm not unhappy with seeing Justin fight for a strap even though I normally don't like seeing dudes get handed consecutive opportunities like this.

 

[fortheo]

Mind you I don't think it's "unfair" either per se, but at the same time he's also a more convincing title contender than Oliveira or Dariush with those two wins. The only guys who come close are Arman if he beats Dariush convingly and maybe Gamrot behind him. Neither guy has a super strong case at the moment which Justin would be snubbing.

I do think it would be a different dynamic if Charles was champ, but having Islam there slightly mitigates Justin's recent title fight losses at least IMO. Again, I think it would be cool to see your proposed fight happen and settle things with a solid #1 contender, but as it stands I'm not unhappy with seeing Justin fight for a strap even though I normally don't like seeing dudes get handed consecutive opportunities like this.

He is the better option now, but that title fight that he is waiting for won't be until october 2024 if Islam stays true to his usual schedule. will Justin be the better option then? 11 months is a long time -- That allows plenty of time for someone like Arman or even BSD to pick up two more big wins and be a more interesting, fresher contender than Gaethje. For what it's worth, If Justin was fighting Islam next instead of charles., I'd be saying this same thing about charles needing to fight other top guys in the mean time.

 

[blaseblase]

I wouldn't be against that, but why have gaethje wait around so long?

Because he was promised a title shot and is fine with waiting.

There would be no waiting if they hadn't thrown Oliviera back into a title fight off one win. That last loss was dominant, he should have had to win another one.

 

[laleggenda27]

If I were Gaethje, I'd relentlessly call out Conor. We all know Conor loves belts, so the BMF title might be enough to make it happen. The winner gets the next title shot after Oliveira.

If Conor doesn't bite, then Gaethje should just wait. Personally, I'm tired of the same 3 or 4 guys constantly getting title shots. But right now, there's really nobody else that makes sense.

 

[AmonTobin]

Probably wise to wait a bit longer. If Charles becomes injured, Gaethje could get the call sooner than we think. Personally, I'm down for as many additional fights that Gaethje's willing to give us.

 

[RockyLockridge]

Nope fuck that Gaethje gets his final title shot everyone said he was as “rank squatting” but he fought fiziev and took it to him in a banger fight squashing that talk. Then he beat a top 5 in Dustin. So no no no. If anything Charles should have to fight the winner.

 

[IronGolem007]

They are all trash choices.

Let anyone of them actually do something worthwhile.

They have all lost to contenders, they have all failed miserably.

Club fighters only.

 

[old school 2]

Gaejthe is ranked way too high for them but Chandler should absolutely take that fight instead of just getting older. If not Chandler then Poirier of the French dude wants a top 10.

 

[TriangleMonkey]

Justin earned his keep

He should be next for the title regardless of winner

Max should fight Bobby Green on short notice

 

[Safton]

He is the better option now, but that title fight that he is waiting for won't be until october 2024 if Islam stays true to his usual schedule. will Justin be the better option then? 11 months is a long time -- That allows plenty of time for someone like Arman or even BSD to pick up two more big wins and be a more interesting, fresher contender than Gaethje. For what it's worth, If Justin was fighting Islam next instead of charles., I'd be saying this same thing about charles needing to fight other top guys in the mean time.

Don't get me wrong, waiting around for Islam's schedule sucks. And it's entirely possible that by then a more compelling contender is there. But for all intents and purposes, Gaethje should already be #1 contender right now. I can't really hold Makhachev's schedule and the UFC's decision to move ahead with the Charles rematch against him. If the situation was reversed (which, IMO, it should be) Charles would have even more impetus than Justin to stay active because he would be on a one-fight win streak with a bad recent loss to one half of the title picture.

If there's a queue of more deserving contenders by the time of their fight, I guess the silver lining is that it means that whoever comes out on top will have their next challenger(s) lined up.

 

[fortheo]

Don't get me wrong, waiting around for Islam's schedule sucks. And it's entirely possible that by then a more compelling contender is there. But for all intents and purposes, Gaethje should already be #1 contender right now. I can't really hold Makhachev's schedule and the UFC's decision to move ahead with the Charles rematch against him. If the situation was reversed (which, IMO, it should be) Charles would have even more impetus than Justin to stay active because he would be on a one-fight win streak with a bad recent loss to one half of the title picture.

If there's a queue of more deserving contenders by the time of their fight, I guess the silver lining is that it means that whoever comes out on top will have their next challenger(s) lined up.

Yeah, I think that's just how it's boing to be and I'll have to deal with it.

Gaethje getting so many title shots reminds me of Edgar and Faber back in the day, but worse because both of them were at least former champs who defended belts, so it made sense for them to get higher profile opportunities.

To be clear, I wouldn't have a problem with gaethje getting a title shot if he was next up, but he doesn't seem to be next and I just don't see his case for a TS being so strong that he can sit out a year for it.

But I guess that is what will happen. Oh well

 

[StonedLemur]

I wasn't a fan when they gave Gaethje his 2nd TS off a win over Chandler, but this time he beat a streaking Fiziev and Poirier by headkick KO, who I think were both top 5. That's pretty damn good and more than any other contender has done lately. Asking him to beat another top 5 guy is... a lot to ask.
It's not like he already has a loss to the current champ so he arguably deserves it more than Oliveira.

Well said sir.

 

[StonedLemur]

I don't know. It is still just two wins since his last title shot, which he earned off one win. I don't think another win is too much to ask, but I get what you're saying. They are two nice wins.

Name another fighter that has beaten 2 top 5s in a row sir.