Justin Gaethje offers to rematch Dustin Poirier following UFC 286 fight with Rafael Fiziev: ‘If I need to, I will’
Justin Gaethje is looking to run back his fight-of-the-year battle against Dustin Poirier. First, though, the US-born Gaethje will have a stiff test at UFC 286 against skilled striker Rafael Fiziev.
American athlete Justin Gaethje has rightfully earned his reputation for being one of the most exciting fighters in MMA today. He was an undefeated WSOF champion when he made his UFC debut in 2017. Since then he has earned six fight of the night awards, four performance of the night honors, plus, two fight of the awards.
‘The Diamond’ Dustin Poirier is a fan favorite due to his aggressive style. He has had some incredible bouts in the UFC and including wins over Conor McGregor, Michael Chandler, Max Holloway, Eddie Alvarez, and Anthony Pettis, among others.
Poirier and Gaethje fought in 2018 which saw ‘The Diamond’ get his hand raised with a fourth-round TKO. This match won fight of the year awards in multiple publications. Gaethje would be willing to run it back, but he has a match in London first.
Justin Gaethje on his future in the UFC
At UFC 286, Gaethje will face the highly dangerous Rafael Fiziev. Ataman’ Fiziev has been rising through the UFC lightweight rankings and has an impressive background in kickboxing and Muay Thai.
The US-born Justin Gaethje still wants to make a run for the title. In an interview with BT Sport, he explained:
“I have a gold belt hanging at my house but it’s an interim title. I’m sitting at number three, very close, a big win over Fiziev puts me right back there you know, you got Dariush and Oliveira fighting, they got to figure that out and then the winner’s going to fight the champion and if I need to fight Poirier in between, that I will. If not, someone’s gonna fight that winner and that’ll be me.” [Transcript courtesy of Middle Easy]
See the full interview below:
