Justin Gaethje has been relentlessly trying to get to the belt for a long time now. Remember what happened in 2020? He faced Tony Ferguson to become the interim lightweight champion and in that same year, he clashed with none other than Khabib Nurmagomedov. Unfortunately, he lost the title unification fight via submission in round two. Sadly, that was not the end of his loss because in 2022 he got another shot at the title against Charles Oliveira at UFC 274 but ‘The Highlight’ lost again. They say ‘third time is a charm’ but will it work out for Gaethje?

There was that KO loss to Max Holloway at UFC 300 but that wasn’t for the title. His fight against Rafael Fiziev at the UFC 313 co-main was for a move towards the title, with their second outing looking oddly similar to UFC 286 when Gaethje bounced back from a slow start to win the bout. Now that he is back in the title picture, his opponent might be Islam Makhachev and it’s not going to be easy. He already lost to Makhachev’s mentor who overwhelmed him with the grappling exchange at UFC 254. Interestingly, Team Khabib’s coach says that the possible fight against the lightweight champion will be starkly different.

According to the AKA head coach Javier Mendez, the fight will be tougher for Gaethje on the feet because Makhachev is a well-rounded fighter with excellent striking. While speaking to Submission Radio, Mendez said, “It definitely, in my opinion, would play out differently because they are not the same fighter. Islam is more well-rounded than Khabib was, you know, so Islam is at the point where he’s pound-for-pound number 1  because he’s well-rounded in all the areas.” Mendez went on to say that ‘The Eagle’ was “not as well-rounded as Islam is in the striking.”

He praised Khabib’s relentless pressure and the ground game which could smother any opponent—something that struck fear in his opponents. However according to him, “Islam doesn’t have that type of game he’s got a different type of game. His game is incredible it’s submission level a base more than anything and as you’ve seen it with all his submissions you know it’s different.”

He gave the props to Makhachev because the latter could mold himself according to the situation. The 27-1-0 phenom can stand and strike, he can do a takedown and even grapple. So even though Justin Gaethje did get a splendid victory over Fiziev, it’s going to be hard to beat Makhachev, which he did not deny as well. He said during the UFC 313 post-fight presser, “He’s a tough matchup for anyone, he’s so good, so strong. Going to have to have a perfect night if I want to beat him.” But what does the UFC head honcho think about all this?

Dana White gives his verdict on Justin Gaethje vs Islam Makhachev

‘The Highlight’ is already 36 and has not many fight miles left on the horizon. However, it is ambiguous how much longer Gaethje will be fighting for. Despite that, he announced before UFC 313 that he is ready for a title shot and his win over ‘Ataman’ likely puts him in the conversation for a shot at gold.

After the fight, the Arizona native once again expressed his desire to fight for the undisputed title but admitted that he doesn’t particularly know what comes next. “I don’t know (what I want next), we’ll see. I mean, I wanna fight for the belt, it’s a much different matchup than I just had, they tried to give me a donut but I need to get back to running if I’m gonna fight Makhachev,” Gaethje said at the post-fight press conference.

Fortunately, since he is #3 and a former interim lightweight champ, Dana White is ready to give him a chance at the strap. “I mean, what’s he ranked right now? Fourth or something, right? Third. There you go, he’s still the number three ranked guy in the world so the odds of him getting the title shot are pretty good,” White revealed in the post-fight presser. So will Gaethje fight Makhachev? Will he be able to win the belt? Share your thoughts in the comments below.