Justin Gaethje has hinted that he plans to continue fighting after his stunning upset over Ilia Topuria at the UFC White House card, but there are still plenty of fighters, fans, and critics who believe he should walk away now while he's on top of the sport.
It's been well documented that Gaethje's dream was becoming undisputed UFC lightweight champion and now he's finally accomplished that goal. But retired UFC welterweight Matt Brown thinks it's crazy that anybody is telling Gaethje to walk away right now when he's poised to make arguably the biggest paydays of his entire career.
“That's what we talk about all the time on here — don't forget what we're doing is prize fighting,†Brown said on The Fighter vs. The Writer. “Justin's value is higher than it's ever been. Take advantage of this shit while you can.â€
The biggest argument against Gaethje fighting again really comes down to a storybook ending for his career with the win over Topuria in June. He entered that fight as a massive underdog and it almost felt like he was being led like a lamb to the slaughter in that fight.
But instead, Gaethje survived some tough moments in the fight and then started dishing out his signature brand of punishment as he battered Topuria on the feet and on the ground. After the fourth round ended, Topuria couldn't continue and the fight was stopped with Gaethje being crowned UFC champion.
That moment is definitely unforgettable but Brown argues that win really just gives Gaethje the leverage to get more money and potentially avenge a couple of past losses while he's champion.
Add to that, Gaethje's legacy is already solidified as one of the most exciting fighters in the history of the sport, but he's not quite in the same conversation as fighters like Jon Jones, Khabib Nurmagomedov or Georges St-Pierre as the greatest of all-time.
“He's not in a top five pound-for-pound [all-time] argument,†Brown said. “He's not even in a top greatest lightweights argument really. He doesn't have anything to lose going for it. He's playing with house money. He goes out and he wins a couple of fights, defends the title against a couple of top guys — Arman [Tsarukyan] would be a huge one I think. I think that's a huge notch on the belt. Avenging a loss to either Max [Holloway] or Charles [Oliveira], another huge notch on the belt.
“He doesn't have anything to lose. He loses to those guys, his legacy isn't any less than it was before.â€
Looking at the lay of the land at lightweight, Brown points to Tsarukyan as the most worthy contender, but the UFC could easily look towards somebody like Holloway or Oliveira as a potential matchup for Gaethje due to the history they share.
Brown believes that all of those potential fights are matchups that Gaethje could win and that only adds to his legendary status.
That's why he's adamant that Gaethje could take some time off to rest and recover from his fight against Topuria but then he should start lining up opponents in 2027 to defend his title and take home a huge amount of money while doing it.
“When you look down the line at the potential matchups, that's a great lineup for him to go on a little title defense streak and have a whole new legacy,†Brown said. “Everybody not only talking about how he's must-see TV, and one of the greatest, most exciting fighters of all time, bonus machine, but now he's got a legacy of title defenses to go on top of that.
“Those are winnable fights for him. He didn't get dominated in those fights. Khabib [Nurmagomedov] is a tough fight for him, I think that's pretty clear. But those are winnable fights. I say shoot for it. Go for it.â€
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