Justin Gaethje has hit back at claims from Michael Chandler that he doesn’t want to fight the former Bellator star.
These two lightweight contenders have been heavily linked with a fight against one another for months now. With Dustin Poirier seemingly being next in line to challenge Charles Oliveira for the title, that leaves room for some of the other residents within the top 10 to battle it out as they continue to jockey for position.
Will Chandler vs Gaethje happen?
Gaethje, as many fans know, hasn’t fought since he was submitted by Khabib Nurmagomedov in their own 155-pound championship showdown back at UFC 254. Many rumours have surfaced since then regarding the reason why he hasn’t gotten back into the octagon, but most fans don’t care and just want to see him compete.
Michael Chandler also recently fought for the belt in a losing effort to the aforementioned Oliveira, and when asked about the prospect of fighting Gaethje, he had the following to say.
“I’ll tell you what, I’ve said Justin Gaethje’s name no less than 100 times since I’ve signed with the organization,” Chandler said. “He’s been asked to fight me three or four different times. Every time he’s declined. He and I are ranked two spots away from each other. He has not fought since last October, he needs to get a fight in if he thinks he’s going to fight for the title. For some reason him and his camp have no interest in fighting me.”
A somewhat stunned Gaethje wasn’t about to let that slide and responded aggressively on social media.
@MikeChandlerMMA is talking out of his ass. I was waiting for the bout agreement 3 weeks into camp and wake up to news his daddy Dana gave him the shot. He’s been out of commission since the KO. What am I missing? I’m on vacay and this fucker is slandering my name. 3-4 times? ?♂️
— Justin Gaethje ?? (@Justin_Gaethje) July 21, 2021
“@MikeChandlerMMA is talking out of his ass. I was waiting for the bout agreement 3 weeks into camp and wake up to news his daddy Dana gave him the shot.” He wrote.
“He’s been out of commission since the KO. What am I missing? I’m on vacay and this f*cker is slandering my name. 3-4 times?”
While this certainly wouldn’t be an official number one contender fight you’d have to imagine the victor would vault themselves back near the top of the mountain – especially if they can secure an impressive finish.
Featured image credit: Getty
