Justin Gaethje has a message for Ilia Topuria after the former UFC lightweight champion suggested that his gloves should be checked for anything “weird” before their next fight. And, well, ‘The Highlight’ didn’t exactly respond with a love letter.
The Spanish-Georgian recently revealed that he had completed his final medical tests and was cleared to return following his brutal clash with Justin Gaethje at the UFC White House card. However, while announcing his comeback, Ilia Topuria also appeared to question whether there was something fishy about the way Gaethje’s punches landed.
“Final medical tests done. I’m back,” Topuria wrote on X. “To all the clowns who’ve been talking s— and counting me out this whole time, here I am. Now let’s see who’s got the b—-.
“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.”
And, as expected, ‘The Highlight’ wasn’t about to let that one slide. The lightweight champion brushed off Ilia Topuria’s accusation and took a shot at his performance in their title unification bout.
“94 days and the best you could come up with is a lame excuse,” he wrote on X. “As terrible as your last performance. Do better kid.”
94 days and the best you could come up with is a lame excuse. As terrible as your last performance. Do better kid.
It’s been nearly three months since Justin Gaethje turned Ilia Topuria’s perfect record into a distant memory and left him with some serious damage to show for it. ‘The Highlight’ took over in the final two rounds, pouring on the punishment until the towel was thrown from the Spanish camp after ‘El Matador’ suffered major facial injuries.
Topuria reportedly fractured both orbital bones, and luckily his camp stepped in after the fourth round to stop things from getting even uglier.By the time it was over, he’d lost more than just a fight: his unbeaten record and undisputed lightweight title were gone, too.
Justin Gaethje’s power has never exactly been up for debate. Even Khabib Nurmagomedov once called him one of the hardest punchers he had ever faced.
“He hit like a truck,” Nurmagomedov said on Hotboxin with Mike Tyson. “Nobody hit me harder than Justin Gaethje, his kick, his punch, his left hook, right hook, right uppercut. But I make him hit me.”
And after what the American did to ‘El Matador,’ that reputation only got louder. But now, Ilia Topuria’s latest comments have dragged the fight’s biggest talking point right back into the spotlight—the same rematch speculation that started swirling almost immediately after the bout.
Justin Gaethje has already ruled out an immediate second fight, and he’s even admitted he isn’t sure when he’ll compete again. So, yeah, there’s a lot up in the air.
Ilia Topuria, on the other hand, is still focused on getting his title back. That could mean running it back with ‘The Highlight’ or finally settling his rivalry with Paddy Pimblett inside the cage.
But before any of that, ‘El Matador’ has to show he’s fully recovered from the damage he took at the White House. The title picture can wait for now.
However, it is worth noting that Topuria is not the only one to suggest that Justin Gaethje may have had something unusual in his gloves during a fight.
The damage to Ilia Topuria’s face was so brutal that some fans online started throwing around wild theories, with a few even suggesting Justin Gaethje had plaster or some other substance on his hands.
There was never any evidence to back those claims up, though, and ‘The Highlight’ seemed to find the whole thing more funny than anything else.
The conspiracy talk even made its way onto Joe Rogan’s podcast, where Gaethje’s coach, Trevor Wittman, brought up the online theories.
“Did you see the picture that there’s rocks in his hands?” Wittman asked.
“Those people are so stupid,” Rogan replied.
However, Justin Gaethje didn’t find it stupid. For him, the theories in themselves were a compliment on his strength.
“What? What a compliment,” he said.”People saying I’m juiced, what a compliment. People saying I have bricks in my f—– gloves, what a compliment, f—— awesome.”
The JRE host then advised Gaethje not to pay attention to internet speculation.
“People are silly; you can’t read the internet. There’s always gonna be someone saying something,” Rogan said.
But to ‘The Highlight,’ all the speculation has already been nothing but fuel to drive him further.
“I know, but I got here because I was petty; I read comments, (they fuel me),” Gaethje responded.
After all, Ilia Topuria wasn’t the first opponent to find out just how nasty Justin Gaethje can be. ‘The Highlight’ has delivered similarly brutal performances against the likes of Paddy Pimblett, Rafael Fiziev, and Tony Ferguson.
And while Fiziev and Pimblett fights were back-and-forth, blood-soaked wars, the UFC 249 matchup with Ferguson was a completely different story. The lightweight champion put on a one-sided beating from start to finish.
Gaethje landed 143 significant strikes against ‘El Cucuy,’ including 100 power shots to the head. And just like Ilia Topuria, Ferguson, too, suffered an orbital fracture and severe facial lacerations.
The defeat also snapped his 12-fight winning streak, marking the beginning of an eight-fight losing streak that completely changed the trajectory of his career.
So, seeing how Justin Gaethje completely changed a man’s destiny with his brute strength, all eyes will now be on Ilia Topuria’s comeback after the punishment he absorbed against ‘The Highlight’.
Whether he gets another shot at settling the rivalry is still up in the air. But if his latest accusation is anything to go by, the bad blood between the two fighters is far from over.
