After Backtracking on Dustin Poirier Fight, Justin Gaethje Reveals Dana White Offered $80,000 to Coach on TUF

Justin Gaethje is currently basking in the glory of his outstanding victory against Rafael Fiziev at UFC 286. After defeating his opponent in a dominant fashion, the former Interim UFC Lightweight Champion wasted no time in calling out his former foe, Dustin Poirier, for a rematch.

‘Diamond’ didn’t take long to respond to the call-out and expressed his nervousness about the possible rematch with ‘The Highlight’. However, Gaethje seems to have had a change of heart and has now backtracked from his initial words. He revealed that he has different plans and goals other than facing Poirier again. He even discussed the TUF offer the UFC made to him and explained why it didn’t work out.

Justin Gaethje would rather chase the bigger fish

It seems like Gaethje has decided to pursue other opportunities now with his career. During a recent conversation with Daniel Cormier, ‘The Highlight’ made it clear that he is no longer interested in fighting top contender Dustin Poirier. Instead, he would rather aim straight for the title.

“I’d rather have a championship fight.”, said Gaethje to DC. The two first fought in 2018 where ‘The Highlight’ suffered a fourth round TKO loss against Poirier.

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The Safford native fighter also revealed how the UFC tried to get the two fighters together, but not in the octagon. The offer was for the two to be coaches on The Ultimate Fighter, but both fighters refused the offer.

Why TUF didn’t work out for the two?

The upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter will see Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler as the coaches. Initially, according to Gaethje, Dana White wanted Gaethje and Poirier to don the coach’s hats, but it didn’t work out.

Speaking of which, the 34-year-old stated, “Before I signed the [Rafael]Fiziev fight, they asked me if I wanted to do ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ against Poirier, and he said no… I don’t blame him. I wouldn’t do it if I was him. I got that much money where you want to pay me $80,000 to go f**king six weeks away from my family? No thanks.”

With the championship in his sights, it seems that Gaethje is now aiming for Islam Makhachev.

Would you like to see Justin Gaethje get the title shot? Or should he fight Dustin Poirier instead? Let us know in the comments below.

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