Daniel Cormier is right, and it isn’t close.
I say that as a guy who loves a big-money circus fight more than is probably healthy. Give me the walkouts, the press conference meltdowns and the pay-per-view numbers that make accountants weep with joy. But when Cormier said he’d read that Justin Gaethje was willing to vacate the lightweight title to fight Conor McGregor, my first reaction matched his. You can’t do that.
DC laid it out on social media. He wrote that he’d read somewhere that Gaethje said he would vacate the belt to fight Conor, and his response was blunt: you can’t do that. He argued that giving away the belt and putting more value on the money fight than on being the champ would harm Gaethje’s legacy. He allowed that Gaethje was probably just talking, then pointed out that Justin has options, calling Arman a star and noting that there’s Ilia too.
That last part is the whole argument. Gaethje doesn’t need McGregor to be rich, relevant or interesting. He’s the champion of the deepest division in the sport, and the line of people who want a crack at him keeps getting longer.
He won that belt in the most memorable setting imaginable
Remember how Gaethje got here. At UFC Freedom 250 on June 14, on the South Lawn of the White House, he took the lightweight title from Ilia Topuria, a former two-division champion, and Topuria retired on his stool after Round 4. That’s a career-defining night. You don’t hand back the hardware from a win like that so you can chase a guy whose own return is shrouded in fog.
And it is foggy. Yahoo Sports referred to UFC 329 in July as McGregor’s comeback card, and yet MMANews reported that Joe Rogan is now questioning McGregor’s motivation to make a UFC return. When the voice of the promotion is publicly wondering whether Conor even wants it, building your future around Conor is like quitting your job because a guy at the bar said he’d get you into his startup.
The champ vs. champ offer is sitting right there
Then Alexander Volkanovski entered the chat, and he did it with real class. Asked about a champ vs. champ fight with Gaethje at lightweight, Volk said of course he’d do it, but he isn’t going to call for it, because that’s the type of champion he is and he thinks you need to earn it. If the UFC wants to offer it, though, he said he’s in, 100%.
That’s a champion saying yes without begging, which I respect. It’s also the best fight on the board. Volkanovski beat Diego Lopes twice, and Lopes is good enough that he’s now moving up to headline UFC 335 against Charles Oliveira. A Gaethje vs. Volkanovski title fight gives you two belts in the cage and a legacy fight for both guys. Try getting that out of a McGregor booking.
If Gaethje would rather stay home in the division, Cormier already listed the alternatives. Arman, whom DC called a star, is one. Topuria is the other, though Yahoo Sports made a fair case that an immediate rematch is a tough sell since Topuria never defended the title before losing it and quit on the stool in June. Topuria is back in training, though, and he won’t stay quiet forever.
Gaethje’s decision is holding up the whole division
This is the part people miss. According to Yahoo Sports, Gaethje still hasn’t made a decision about his fighting future, and a lot of lightweight plans hinge on it.
Paddy Pimblett has called out Topuria repeatedly since the White House card and pitched the two of them coaching a season of The Ultimate Fighter. Dana White sounded into it at the UFC 332 post-fight press conference, but he hedged in a way that points straight at the champ: “I mean I love the idea of that, but a lot of things determine how things play out.” He added that those factors affect certain fights and title fights along with TUF, said they’d see how the timing plays out, and called it a good one.
Translation: nobody can map out 155 pounds until the guy holding the belt tells everyone what he’s doing. Yahoo’s reporting suggested Topuria vs. Pimblett would likely be a non-title fight if Gaethje stays active. If Gaethje walks away from the strap for a McGregor fight that might never materialize, he blows up the bracket and gets nothing guaranteed in return. That’s how you end up with a vacant title, a confused division and a champion who traded the real thing for a rumor.
I’m with Cormier on the generous read, too. Maybe Gaethje was just talking, the way fighters do when someone asks about Conor and the dollar signs start spinning. Fine. But the way to shut the McGregor chatter down is to sign a defense.
The division isn’t waiting around, either. Oliveira (37-11) puts his BMF title on the line against Lopes at lightweight on Dec. 12 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, and whoever wins that fight is going to start eyeing Gaethje’s belt. He should make them come take it.
