“I will give no disrespect to Charles. He is now the undisputed champion and I cannot wait to fight him.”
Justin Gaethje has said some harsh things about Charles Oliveira in the past, but ‘The Highlight’ gained a lot of respect for ‘Do Bronx’ on Saturday.
Oliveira beat Dustin Poirier via submission in the UFC 269 main event to retain his lightweight title and, while Gaethje no longer holds a grudge against Oliveira, the Arizona-based fighter still can’t wait to ‘break his face’.
“I absolutely loved it. I will give no disrespect to Charles. He is now the undisputed champion and I cannot wait to fight him. I don’t care where or when,” Gaethje said at the ESPN post-fight show (h/t MMA Fighting).
“I saw a competitor tonight,” he added. “I saw a dog and I can’t wait to break his face. He gets hit a lot,” Gaethje said. “He better pray and hope for the next however many days until our fight that he takes me down, gets his choke. Because if not, we see what happens.”
Gaethje previously fought for the lightweight strap at UFC 254 but lost to Khabib Nurmagomedov via third-round submission. The 33-year-old rebounded with a hard-fought decision victory over a very-game Michael Chandler at UFC 268 and believes he is now due another title shot.