Justin Gaethje will likely be the next challenger for Charles Oliveria’s lightweight throne in 2022. UFC newcomer Paddy Pimblett believes “The Highlight†will become champion and is capable of taking on all comers. According to Pimblett, Oliveira’s submission skills will be rendered useless against Justin Gaethje as he won’t be able to bring “The Highlight” to the ground. “Baddy†is confident that Gaethje will be able to successfully defend his title against top contenders like Beneil Dariush and Islam Makhachev.
Paddy Pimblett also predicted a title shot for Dustin Poirier as he holds a previous victory over Justin Gaethje. When asked who will be champion at the end of the year, the ‘Baddy’ said:
“I think it’s going to be Justin Gaethje. I really like Charles Oliveira. He’s brilliant, I mean he’s very good. But I just can’t see Gaethje go to the floor with him. I can’t. see him being able to take Gaethje down. So I can see Gaethje beat him. And then I can see Gaethje beat him [Beneil] Dariush or [Islam] Makhachev or whoever is next in line. Or [Dustin] Poirier, he’ll probably get another blow to the belt because he’s already beaten Gaethje. “
Watch Paddy Pimblett’s Q&A session on YouTube below:
The beef between Justin Gaethje and Charles Oliveira
Charles Oliveira recently lambasted Justin Gaethje for a false show of respect after UFC 269. According to Oliveira, Gaethje pays homage to him when they only meet to talk “shit” after turning their backs.
The UFC lightweight king said in a Portuguese podcast hosted on MMACombat:
“[Justin Gaethje] talks a bunch of bullshit all the time, and when we meet face to face he says he has all the respect for me and what i do and two minutes later he says he’s gonna beat me up … Try to sell the fight with something they’re not. “
Justin Gaethje responded to Oliveira by saying his respect was as real as his intention to break the face of “Do Bronx”. Gaethje wrote on Twitter:
“@CharlesDoBronxs it’s called respect, fool and we’re in the business of broken faces. My respect that night was just as real as my intention to take everything from you to your country @ ufc # uhvaimorrer”
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Justin Gaethje is expected to fight Charles Oliveira sometime in 2022. However, as of yet, the date of the fight has yet to be announced.