Justin Gaethje wants to avenge loss against 'toughest opponent' Khabib Nurmagomedov by fighting his protege
02/18/2025 05:53 AM
It’s been five years since Khabib Nurmagomedov retired on top of the sport of MMA, submitting Justin Gaethje in the second round of their COVID lockdown PPV event in Dubai.
By all rights, Gaethje gave Nurmagomedov a tough fight, landing some thudding low kicks and his patented power hooks to throw ‘The Eagle’ off balance on several occasions. Nurmagomedov endured the punishment, keeping Gaethje on the back foot and securing a slick triangle-choke finish.
Now long retired, Nurmagomedov’s protege Islam Makhachev rules the roost at UFC lightweight, having defended his belt a record four times. Gaethje now lives in Makhachev’s world, and while he admits Nurmagomedov was a tough fight, he’d still like to test his mettle against the new blood.
‘Toughest opponent to date’ … Justin Gaethje ranks Khabib Nurmagomedov and targets Islam Makhachev
On a YouTube Q&A, Gaethje remarked that he wasn’t sure if he’d have beaten the version of Nurmagomedov he faced at UFC 254. ‘The Eagle’ famously retired following his father’s passing, promising his mother it would be his last fight.
“I think Khabib was probably [was toughest],” Gaethje said. “Even if I performed better I’m not sure I could have beat him on that night. So that night, when I fought Khabib, he was one of the toughest opponents to date.”
Gaethje has been a perennial contender at lightweight for almost a decade, securing 13 UFC bonuses in that time. After losing to Nurmagomedov, he went 3-2, securing a highlight-reel head kick knockout over Dustin Poirier at UFC 291.
Following this, Gaethje was on the receiving end of one of the greatest knockouts of all time against Max Holloway. ‘Blessed’ knocked Gaethje out cold in the last second of their BMF title match at UFC 300, and Gaethje hasn’t fought since.
This hasn’t stopped Gaethje from measuring himself against the current champion, Makhachev, whom he believes he’d fare better against than Nurmagomedov.
“I wanna fight Makhachev. . . . I do believe that is a better matchup for me than Khabib,” Gaethje remarked.
Do-or-die for Justin Gaethje at UFC 313
Gaethje’s comeback fight is booked against Dan Hooker at UFC 313 on March 8. Hooker is a marked step down in name value for Gaethje, but ‘The Hangman’ has impressed audiences with a recent career resurgence.
The Kiwi scrapper admitted he sold his title shot for money, opting to fight a killer’s row of competition, including Islam Makhachev, Arnold Allen, and a debuting Michael Chandler. Now, No. 6 Hooker gets the opportunity to jump into lightweight title contention with a win against Hooker. For Gaethje, it’s a potential passing of the torch fight, where another loss could have him fed to the wolves at lightweight.
