Islam Makhachev’s Manager Says Justin Gaethje deserves the next shot at UFC lightweight gold: ‘He Earned it’
Ali Abdelaziz, the manager of reigning UFC lightweight world champion Islam Makhachev, believes Justin Gaethje is the next man in line for a shot at the 155-pound crown.
Originally, Makhachev was scheduled to defend his title against former titleholder Charles Oliveira at UFC 294 in October. Unfortunately, ‘Do Bronx’ suffered a cut whilst training, forcing him out of the highly anticipated rematch. In his place, Alexander Volkanovski stepped in on 11 days’ notice and ended up suffering a brutal first-round knockout. Many fight fans assumed that the UFC would simply reschedule Makhachev vs. Oliveira 2 for 2024, but that no longer appears to be the case.
Last week, Dana White announced that Oliveira would return at UFC 300 on April 13 for a clash with rising contender Arman Tsarukyan. The winner will presumably move on to face the ‘Dagestani Destroyer’ later this year.
In the meantime, Abdelaziz believes that Gaethje should be the man challenging Makhachev for lightweight gold.
“I think it’s obvious, man Justin Gaethje… He’s on a two fight winning streak, phenomenal fighter,” Abdelaziz told ESPN’s Brett Okamoto in a recent interview. “One of the greatest entertainment fighters we [have] ever seen. He have the BMF title now. But you know him and Islam, it’s a history, you know. He fought Khabib, now he’s fighting Khabib’s protege and he earned it, you know, he earned it.”
After earning impressive back-to-back wins against Rafael Fiziev and Dustin Poirier, ‘The Highlight’ is considered by many to be the rightful No. 1 contender.
“Justin Gaethje is a guy [who has] never been given what he wants,” Abdelaziz added. “He earned it with sweat and blood and tear inside the cage. Islam is very interested to fight in him. But Islam you know he did this quote in the PI, he have to hold on to it, he said, ‘Doesn’t matter who when and how I’ll fight anybody they give me.”
When Will We See Islam Makhachev Back in the octagon?
As for when we could see Islam Makhachev back inside the Octagon, that’s a whole other issue. He hoped to defend his title ahead of Ramadan which runs from March 10 through April 9. With UFC 299 emanating from Miami, Florida on March 9, the timing appeared to line up perfectly.
However, the promotion has already announced that Sean O’Malley would defend his bantamweight title that night against Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera in the evening’s headliner.
The deal with Islam was to fight on March 9,” Abdelaziz said. “Of course, the UFC has a headliner already with Sean O’Malley. They said he’s the main event. They said we could fight in February, but it was too close his fight. The one he just fought [against Alexander Volkanovski]. It is what it is. He’s just going to wait for Ramadan or maybe the UFC will call tomorrow. O’Malley’s out, we need Islam, and then he can fight March 9. Islam is always training. Always in shape. He’s a professional.”
With Ramadan ending days before UFC 300 goes down in Las Vegas, Makhachev may very well sit on the sidelines until a winner emerges between Charles Oliveira and Arman Tsarukyan, meaning Gaethje may not get his shot until late 2024 or even early 2025.
