A few weeks removed from his epic Lightweight scrap against Eddie Alvarez at UFC 218, which saw him get knocked out (see it again here), Justin Gaethje is already looking forward to his next challenge after losing the first fight of his career.
And “Highlight” already has a few names in mind, as he took to The MMA Hour to call out a couple of contenders for his comeback fight.
“When you win, you get to pick somebody in front of you, but when you lose; I am still ranked No. 5 in the world, UFC, so coming off a loss now I get to give somebody behind me a chance,” explained Justin.
“So we will see which one of these loudmouths, Kevin Lee, Dustin Poirier. One of them is going to have to get me on my comeback. So I’m trying for that.”
Regarding his loss to Alvarez, Justin says he is glad he went out on his shield, as he said he knew if he lost, he would only go out by way of knockout.
“I really had a lot of fun in there. It was the time of my life, honestly. Being able to put my skills on display on the highest level, the biggest stage, pay-per-view. All those things were a dream come true for me,” explained Justin. “I signed up for this and I said it before, if I was going to lose, I hoped I would get knocked out. And it came true. I love the sport, I love MMA before I started, I’m a fan and a fan of Eddie Alvarez before I started fighting.”
Savage?
As for his desire to face Lee or Poirier, one could be more realistic than the other, as a matchup against “The Motown Phenom” seems likely since they are both coming off a loss. As for Poirier, he is fresh off a win over Anthony Pettis and is on the campaign trail trying to score a rematch against Alvarez.
Any of you feeling potential scraps between Gaethje and any of those two contenders?