Justin Gaethje has heard the chatter and knows there’s a burst of momentum favoring Charles Oliveira receiving a UFC lightweight title shot.
Oliveira has won eight fights in a row, seven of them finishes. The Brazilian standout, who holds the UFC record for submissions (14), had his most recent victory over former UFC interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson in dominant fashion at UFC 256.
While the championship itself is on hold as the UFC continues to acknowledge the retired Khabib Nurmagomedov as its titleholder, the question of who has the next shot depends on whether the company can coax Nurmagomedov back to the cage or if it winds up that two other competitors fought for the vacant belt.
Gaethje, for his part, simply isn’t impressed with Oliveira’s candidacy. and doesn’t believe his lengthy winning streak alone merits title consideration. So he took his case to Twitter on Thursday.
Sick of hearing @CharlesDoBronxs deserves anything. Other than Tony what the fuck has this dude done to get a shot at a title? pic.twitter.com/VyTMaLnBDl
— Justin Gaethje (@Justin_Gaethje) February 11, 2021
Sick of hearing @CharlesDoBronxs deserves anything. Other than Tony what the f*ck has this dude done to get a shot at a title?
Credit for stacking up dubs but that’s now [sic] how this works.
It’s not going out on a limb to say some of the fighters in Oliveira’s recent run won’t be challenging for the 155-pound belt anytime soon.
But this also invites a re-examination of the run Gaethje went on to earn his interim title shot and victory over Ferguson at UFC 249: Wins over James Vick, which kicked off a five-fight Vick tailspin; Edson Barboza, who was 1-2 going into the Gaethje fight and is 1-3 since; and a down trending Donald Cerrone.
An objective observer could conclude the resumes are closer than either might care to admit. Either way, Gaethje, whose last fight was his UFC 254 second-round submission loss to Nurmagomedov, made it clear he doesn’t think “Do Bronx” has earned a slot in a title fight.
Justin Gaethje rips Charles Oliveira’s UFC title-shot candidacy: ‘What the f*ck has this dude done?’