Justin Gaethje holds the most valuable belt in the deepest division in the sport. After his appearance on Andrew Schulz's Flagrant podcast, it's fair to ask how long he plans to keep it — or whether he plans to defend it at all.
“It's not that I don't wanna fight Arman. I mean, he is next in line. If and when I defend the championship, that should be who I fight. I just don't know.”
The 37-year-old champion laid out his thinking with unusual candor. He named the two fights on his radar, and they're as different as it gets: Conor McGregor, or Arman Tsarukyan.
The McGregor fight is the fun one — and Gaethje made no secret of the appeal. "Conor McGregor has one fight left on his contract," he said. "That'll be fun." Then came the punchline, delivered with characteristic menace: "I don't care [if he stays healthy for it]. Best-case scenario, he shows up, and f***ing gets hurt in the first five seconds."
It's a brutal joke with a real target. McGregor, 38, has lost his last three UFC fights, and his attempted comeback at UFC 329 in July ended in disaster — Max Holloway stopped him in the first round after the Irishman tore his ACL and meniscus seconds into the fight. He underwent surgery in early August and isn't expected back until next year. His final contracted fight, whenever it happens, will be one of the biggest stories in the sport. Gaethje wants it to be against him.
But the real business — the merit-based business — is Tsarukyan. And Gaethje didn't dodge it. "It's not that I don't wanna fight Arman," he said. "I mean, he is next in line. If and when I defend the championship, that should be who I fight. I just don't know."
That conditional is doing a lot of work. Tsarukyan (24-3, 11-2 UFC) flattened Mauricio Ruffy with elbows from the clinch at UFC 331 and has said the UFC brass told him his next fight would be for the lightweight title. On paper, he's the undeniable No. 1 contender. But Gaethje's "if and when" is not a booking — it's a champion openly questioning whether he has another camp in him.
The reason is physical. Gaethje took the belt from Ilia Topuria at UFC Freedom 250 in June, surviving a war that left him with severe hand and wrist damage and a deep bone bruise in his knee. He told Schulz he gave too much of himself in his January and June fights, and the cost of reaching the top might keep him out a while. He isn't expected back in 2026, with a first defense tipped for 2027 at the earliest.
"I don't know what's gonna happen [next]," Gaethje admitted. "It's interesting. It's fun though. It's a good position to be in."
It's a good position for him. For the division, it's a freeze. An inactive champion at 155 pounds — with Tsarukyan peaking, Topuria agitating for a rematch, and Pimblett circling — is the deepest weight class in MMA standing still. The McGregor circus would at least be movement. Right now, the champion is committed to neither.
