Ilia Topuria is medically cleared, and he wants his revenge. The problem: Justin Gaethje isn't interested.
“I think Gaethje should give Topuria the rematch. Ilia was champion and he needs rematch.”
Topuria suffered the first loss of his career on June 14 at UFC Freedom 250, when Gaethje battered him on the White House South Lawn until his corner stopped it at the end of the fourth round, unifying the lightweight title. The former two-division champion took serious facial injuries in the defeat and has only recently been cleared to return.
Since then, Topuria has gone a different direction than congratulation — accusing Gaethje of loading his gloves before the fight, claiming the champion put "something weird" on them. Gaethje has dismissed the accusation outright, and regulators have backed him: the official line is that the gloves were fine and the wrapping was supervised.
Gaethje, for his part, has closed the door on an immediate sequel. "I think he should go down," the 37-year-old champion said, suggesting Topuria return to featherweight and chase Alexander Volkanovski instead. "I don't think he'll ever be champion at lightweight." The division has already moved on: Gaethje has confirmed that if he defends the belt at all — retirement is openly on the table — Arman Tsarukyan is next, following the Armenian's first-round demolition of Mauricio Ruffy at UFC 331.
Not everyone agrees with the champion's stance. Merab Dvalishvili has argued Topuria deserves the immediate rematch on principle: a champion who went to war shouldn't be cut off after one loss. And Paddy Pimblett — whom Gaethje beat for the interim title at UFC 324 in January — has gleefully branded Topuria a "sore loser" over the glove claim.
Gaethje himself has pushed back on the ugliest narrative of all: that Topuria quit. "He didn't quit on the stool," Gaethje said. "His body was too compromised to continue fighting. He didn't make the call, his coaches made the call because they're there to protect him."
The Matador is back, angry, and pointing fingers. But the lightweight division's road runs through Tsarukyan now — and Topuria's path back to the belt looks longer than 94 days.
