Justin Gaethje is training again, and according to the man who shares a gym with him, the lightweight champion has his mind on another fight. Drew Dober told Mike Bohn that Gaethje “is definitely thinking about fighting again,” in comments shared Tuesday by MMA Junkie on X. Dober then went a step further and named the opponent he expects.
“I put my money on we’re going to have Justin Gaethje vs. Arman Tsarukyan sometime next year,” Dober said.
That’s a teammate’s read, so treat it as a strong hunch from someone close to the room and not a booking. Nothing official has been announced, and Dober didn’t offer a date or an event. He has his own business to handle first, too. As Spinnin Backfist pointed out on X the same day, this is Drew Dober fight week.
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How Gaethje got here
The last year has been the best stretch of Gaethje’s career. In January he beat Paddy Pimblett for the interim lightweight title. Then he met Ilia Topuria, the man who had won the undisputed belt the year before, in a title unification bout at UFC White House and beat him too. That result upended a lot of plans. Topuria had been lined up for a welterweight title fight with Islam Makhachev, a fight he talks about now as something that could make sense again only after he rebuilds.
Topuria’s rebuild, at least as he sees it, runs through Pimblett. The two have been feuding for years without ever fighting, and Topuria told ABC.es he’s heard rumors about the pair coaching opposite each other on The Ultimate Fighter, though he said he hasn’t had any conversations with the UFC about it. He was complimentary toward Gaethje in that same interview, calling him a dog with a lot of experience who does things that look poorly executed but work.
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As for running it back with Gaethje, Ali Abdelaziz has already shut the door. In a clip shared by Championship Rounds, Abdelaziz said the Topuria rematch “will never happen” and added, “It’s very hard to come back from the trauma of a fight like that. Wishing him the best of luck.”
So with Topuria and Pimblett circling each other and the rematch apparently off the table, the champion’s side of the division is open. That’s where Tsarukyan comes in.
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Quick take
Dober’s pick is the right one. Tsarukyan has spent a long time as the contender everyone agrees deserves the next shot and somehow doesn’t get it, and a Gaethje fight would finally settle that. It’s also a fascinating style question. Gaethje’s whole career has been built on walking through fire to land on people, and Tsarukyan is exactly the kind of grinding wrestler who can make a brawler’s night miserable for 25 minutes. The thing I’d watch is the gym itself. Dober is in camp right now, and when a fighter in that room says his teammate is definitely thinking about fighting, he’s describing what he sees across the mats every day. Once Dober’s done this weekend, expect the questions to turn to when, not whether.
