Connect with us

MMA

Justin Gaethje hits back at Ilia Topuria's 'lame' cheating allegations after UFC Freedom 250

Published

6 hours ago

on

Justin Gaethje hits back at Ilia Topuria's 'lame' cheating allegations after UFC Freedom 250
Trending:

Tom Aspinall issues statement on rumored UFC departure after coach's recent claims
Credit: Zuffa LLC

UFC lightweight champion Justin Gaethje and Ilia Topuria continue to stoke the flames of a potential title rematch.

Tensions between UFC lightweight champion Justin Gaethje and former titleholder Ilia Topuria are ramping up ahead of a potential immediate rematch.

Gaethje handed Topuria the first loss of his career earlier this year at UFC Freedom 250. In an instant classic, Gaethje defeated Topuria by TKO (corner stoppage) to win the undisputed championship for the first time in his legendary tenure.

Despite Topuria's team recently shutting down imminent return rumors, the former lightweight champ recently took to social media to announce he's been medically cleared to fight. Topuria suffered two broken orbitals in the loss to Gaethje, and a timeline for his comeback seemed uncertain.

Now, Topuria could potentially return by year's end, and his earlier cordiality with Gaethje has seemed to dissipate. Topuria recently accused Gaethje of tampering with his gloves at UFC Freedom 250 in an X-rated social media rant.

Justin Gaethje slams Ilia Topuria's glove tampering allegations

In a recent tweet, Gaethje responded to Topuria's scathing allegations.

“Ilia, 94 days and the best you could come up with is a lame excuse,†Gaethje said.

“As terrible as your last performance. Do better kid.â€

UFC lightweight contenders Arman Tsarukyan and Mauricio Ruffy will fight for a potential No. 1 contender spot this weekend at UFC Freedom 250. If Gaethje postpones his teased retirement, he'll likely fight the Tsarukyan vs. Ruffy winner for his first title defense.

But UFC CEO Dana White recently admitted that the Gaethje vs. Topuria rematch is also possible for the next lightweight title fight. A grudge match between Topuria and rising star Paddy Pimblett has also been discussed.

In either case, tensions are ramping up between Topuria and Gaethje, and there remains no evidence of wrongdoing by Gaethje or his team at UFC Freedom 250. But that hasn't stopped things from getting hostile as rematch talks continue.

Would you want to see Justin Gaethje vs. Ilia Topuria 2 next? Share your thoughts in the comments!

This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM

Related Topics:
Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

MMA

Islam Makhachev, Jon Jones ignite a very personal UFC legacy feud

Published

6 hours ago

on

September 16, 2026

By

Islam Makhachev, Jon Jones ignite a very personal UFC legacy feud
Islam
Makhachev and Jon Jones are
going back and forth online.

Makhachev recently discredited Jones' title run in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship because of repeated drug-testing
violations. Jones fired back at Makhachev, claiming the UFC's
drug-testing partners at the time had dismissed his failures as
unintentional and not performance-enhancing.

Jon Jones invokes Islam Makhachev’s lone loss before the UFC
pound-for-pound king targets Jones’ past

In addition to defending his run-ins with USADA, “Bones†further
boasted his near-perfect record while reminding Makhachev of his
lone career loss against Adriano
Martins in 2015. Jones listed several reasons why he considers
his legacy superior to that of Makhachev, referencing praise he
once received from Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, before taking a shot at
Daniel
Cormier.

Jones wrote on X:

“Let's start this week by dispelling rumors that have been spread
by people chasing me: 1. If you believe USADA for finding a
picogram in my system, then you must believe USADA when they say
“It was not found to be PERFORMANCE ENHANCING or INTENTIONAL.†You
can't have it both ways. 2. Last I checked, my hand got raised
every time I was in the Octagon since any of you can remember. 3.
Your own coach said I was “a gift from God.†4. Let's not forget
you've been KO'd, flat-lined, went night night. 5. DC I kicked you
in the head LOL; keep telling yourself it was steroids. Whatever
you need to tell yourselves to sleep better at night, go for it.
Keep chasing; it's lonely at the top, Islam, hopefully I'll see you
up here one day.â€

Responding to Jones, Makhachev said that he doesn't intend to take
away from the former UFC double champ's achievements. However, the
Russian subtly reminded Jones of his multiple run-ins with the
law.

“Jon, I'm not trying to diminish your achievements in any way,â€
Makhachev responded. “But your whole life seems to be tied to
breaking the rules one way or another, and somehow, you're never
the one to be blamed.â€

Jones hasn't fought since beating Stipe
Miocic. He subsequently vacated the heavyweight title, but has
left the door open to an Octagon return. Meanwhile, Makhachev is
atop the sport at the moment, having recently recorded his first
title defense at welterweight and breaking Anderson
Silva's record for most consecutive wins in UFC history.


Continue Reading

MMA

‘I’m back’: Ilia Topuria reveals he’s been cleared to return to action after brutal UFC White House loss; Justin Gaethje responds

Published

8 hours ago

on

September 16, 2026

By

‘I’m back’: Ilia Topuria reveals he’s been cleared to return to action after brutal UFC White House loss; Justin Gaethje responds

Ilia Topuria is ready to reclaim his throne.

Speculation has been running wild for days about a timeline for Topuria to make his return to action following a brutal back-and-forth battle against Justin Gaethje at the UFC White House card. Topuria reportedly suffered several major injuries, which eventually forced his coaches to stop the fight after the fourth round to prevent any further damage.

Now Topuria has finally issued his own statement revealing that he's been cleared to return to action and he's got a lot of work to do now that he's back.

“Final medical tests done. I'm back,†Topuria wrote on Twitter. “To all the clowns who've been talking shit and counting me out this whole time, here I am. Now let's see who's got the balls.

“Thanks to everyone for the support. Next time I'll make sure they check Justin's gloves so he doesn't put anything weird on them. See you soon.â€

It's the first time Topuria has made the claim that Gaethje had something “weird†on his gloves during the fight. Gaethje earned the victory after going to war with Topuria and eventually gaining the upper had by dishing out more punishment in the final two rounds that led to the stoppage.

As far as Topuria's comeback fight, it's possible the UFC decides to just run it back immediately with Gaethje considering the attention and ratings the first fight earned.

There's also a potential showdown with Paddy Pimblett staring Topuria down after they've engaged in a heated rivalry for the past couple of years.

Obviously, Topuria would like to get his title back, and he took a direct parting shot at Gaethje and his manager Ali Abdelaziz after telling the world he was cleared to fight again.

“By the way Justin, f*ck you,†Topuria wrote. “And Ali, f*ck you too.â€

It didn't take long for Gaethje to hear about Topuria's readiness to fight again or making some strange accusation about his gloves from the fight in June.

“94 days and the best you could come up with is a lame excuse,†Gaethje fired back. “As terrible as your last performance. Do better kid.â€

Continue Reading

MMA

Alexandre Pantoja isnt interested in selling Joshua Van rematch

Published

8 hours ago

on

September 16, 2026

By

Alexandre Pantoja isn't interested in selling Joshua Van rematch
Alexandre
Pantoja is fully focused on his upcoming rematch with Joshua
Van.

Pantoja (30-6) will look to reclaim the
Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight title against Van
(17-2) at UFC
331 on Sept. 19 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. Rather than
stoking the flames of their rivalry in the lead-up to their
rematch, the former champ is solely thinking about the fight.

Alexandre Pantoja says his sole focus is beating Joshua Van at
UFC 331

Pantoja says the lead-up to his rematch against Van will be
different than their first encounter. The Brazilian has no room in
his mind to sell this fight by building up the rivalry and isn't
even interested in the press conference or other pre-fight customs.
While Pantoja knows fans like some pre-fight antics, he believes he
gave them their fair share last time around.

“Now it's gonna be a little bit different than last time,†Pantoja
told Full Send MMA. “I don't try to sell this fight anymore; I'm
here to fight. I'm in fight week and I'm not here for the press
conference; I'm here for Saturday night. Doesn't matter what he
talks about. I know people love the press conference and all that,
but I gave you a good show last time. My mind is only focused on
Saturday.â€

While the dynamic between the two was amicable going into their
first meeting last year, a presser following the announcement of
the rematch featured Van taking shots at Pantoja, who didn't take
kindly to the disrespect.

Continue Reading
Advertisement

OUR NEWSLETTER

Subscribe Us To Receive Our Latest News Directly In Your Inbox!

We don’t spam! Read our privacy policy for more info.

Trending