Justin Gaethje doesn’t see Islam Makhachev as the unconquerable force that Khabib Nurmagomedov was.
Gaethje was submitted by undefeated former UFC lightweight champion Nurmagomedov in their title fight in October 2020. As he heads into his rematch with Dustin Poirier for the “BMF” title in Saturday’s UFC 291 headliner at Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Gaethje hopes it earns him a shot at lightweight champ Makhachev.
Like Nurmagomedov, Makhachev has run through most opposition until he was taken to the brink by featherweight champ Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 284. He also was knocked out in his second UFC fight by Adriano Martins, but hasn’t lost since.
“If we’re going off of what we know, then it’s going to be Volkanovski because he already fought him and it was a really close fight,” Gaethje told Shakiel Mahjouri on Makhachev’s toughest test. “I’ve never fought him. Poirier’s never fought him. … I think Volkanovski is the obvious answer for now, but I can’t wait to get in there. I know for a fact he’s not Khabib, and I want to go in there and prove that.”
The UFC opted to go with Makhachev vs. Charles Oliveira 2 for the UFC 294 headliner Oct. 21 in Abu Dhabi. If the Gaethje vs. Poirier winner ever was in play, Gaethje says it would have been highly unlikely for him to turn around so quickly if he beats Poirier.
“I would say there would be a 0 percent chance,” Gaethje said. “The UFC isn’t going to protect you. It’s just the name of the game. You’ve got to take time between these fights – not just the fights, but the training camp that we just went through. I’ve just been through 12 weeks of training – extremely hard, six days a week, and your body gets broken down.
“It’s something that you’ve really got to focus on is understanding you’ve got to go through a healing process every single time you step in there. The physical aspect, but I would say even the mental aspect is a traumatic life experience every time you step in there, and you’ve really got to take some time to heal every time you do that.”
UFC 291 takes place Saturday at Delta Center in Salt Lake City. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ABC/ESPN and early prelims on ESPN+.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 291.
