Israel Adesanya has now identified who should be Justin Gaethje’s next opponent inside the octagon ahead of UFC superstar Conor McGregor.
Justin Gaethje came out on top at the UFC Freedom 250 earlier this month after he captured the UFC lightweight championship against Ilia Topuria in Washington.
The 37-year-old forced a corner stoppage against Ilia Topuria in the fourth round of his UFC co-main event fight, which allowed Gaethje to unify the lightweight title.
Following Gaethje’s triumph at the UFC White House event, all eyes have now turned to the hotly anticipated return of Conor McGregor at UFC 329 in July.
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Israel Adesanya thinks UFC star Justin Gaethje should be fighting Arman Tsarukyan over Conor McGregor
Conor McGregor, who has not fought since his 2021 defeats to Dustin Poirier, is set to return to UFC action against Max Holloway at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Speaking to Demetrious Johnson on the MMA legend’s YouTube channel, Israel Adesanya admitted that Justin Gaethje against McGregor would be a ticket-mover.
But the ex-two-time UFC middleweight champion feels that lightweight title holder Gaethje should face Arman Tsarukyan in what would be a “crazy fight” in his eyes.
“[McGregor vs Gaethje] would sell more than [Tsarukyan vs Gaethje],” Adesanya said.
“Technically, yes, [Tsarukyan] should be the next guy to fight Justin, that would be a crazy fight.
“But the UFC likes the narratives they can create, and the one with Conor or Max, a revenge match with Max, that would be insane.
“They probably do that at the end of the year.”
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Israel Adesanya rules out a rematch between Justin Gaethje and Ilia Topuria after UFC Freedom 250 fight
Ilia Topuria suffered the first defeat of his professional MMA career at UFC Freedom 250 after he lost the UFC lightweight championship to Gaethje at the White House.
Adesanya has admitted that he does not think a Topuria rematch is on the table for Gaethje, who should instead be set up to tease a fight with McGregor.
“Will there be a rematch [between Gaethje and Topuria]? Nah, I don’t think so,” he said.
“I think Gaethje should go watch the Max vs Conor fight… Gaethje sitting frontside at Max vs Conor in Vegas.
“He’s already got the story there with Max, wants revenge, but also Conor and Gaethje would feed families, it would feed f—— countries, that would be crazy.
“It would. It would feed everybody, World Vision.”
McGregor will fight Max Holloway for the second time in his UFC career and their UFC 329 co-main event will see the Irishman return to compete at welterweight.