Justin Gaethje's past may have caught up with him.
The former BMF champion is the strange man in the lightweight title photo as a former champion Vederweight Ilia Topuria Vecht Charles Oliveira for the vacant title in the main event of UFC 317.
Gaethje, winner of three of his last four fights, left Souls to Oliveira to get the shot over him, especially after his last victory – an impressive performance yielded against Rafael Fiziev on UFC 313.
Nicknamed 'The Highlight', Gaethje is one of the most exciting hunters in the UFC history. The 36-year-old striker has made nearly a million dollars in performance bonuses alone with victories over Dustin Poirier, Michael Chandler and Tony Ferguson.
Despite his praise, the title chances went to Oliveira, who will make a decision about Chandler in November.
One UFC star believes that Justin Gaethje would have been the nicer fight for Topuria, who is also known for his boxing, and wondered why the UFC did not go with him.
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
Din Thomas thinks Justin Gaethje Ko -loss has prevented Max Holloway TitleSchot
Speaking on the title photo, says former UFC light weight and analyst Din Thomas that Gaethje's deafening Ko loss against Max Holloway on UFC 300 last year could have left a 'lasting impression' to fight again for a title.
“I think that would have excited me more,” Thomas said about Topuria vs. Gaethje on Fightcourt.
“I think the only other reason I could see them not give it to Gaethje, maybe just the lasting impression that he will be eliminated by Max …
“Maybe he has hurt his stock in terms of championship ambitions,” said Thomas about why Gaethje did not get the title fight for Oliveira on UFC 317.
Many fans feared that De Ko'ed Gaethje would never look the same after UFC 300, but that was just not the case.
Gaethje has since been reflected from the Holloway loss with an almost finish by Muay Thai Striker Rafael Fiziev at a high level at UFC 313, where he won with a unanimous decision.
Din Thomas Doubt No doubt about Charles Oliveira's title shot, says he would rather see Justin Gaethje fighting Ilia Topuria
2-2 In his last four fights, former champion Charles Oliveira campaigned for the lightweight title fight after his last victory over Michael Chandler.
It is worth mentioning, Oliveira was offered a rematch twice against the then champion Islam Makhachev after he had lost him at UFC 280. Oliveira rejected the first offer and later retreated from a title fight with Makhachev at UFC 294 because of a cut.
Afterwards, Oliveira lost a meticulous title eliminator against Arman Tsarukyan at UFC 300 before he returned to the profit column.
“For me it was almost automatic that we just assumed and expected it to be Charles,” said Thomas about the Oliveira title shot.
“Maybe the UFC did that too, as they saw it as it should be. Charles probably just spoke his way to be like:” Yo, I fight for this title … “Then we automatically started that the situation was.
As for Gaethje, who left without a fight:
“It's hard to say where Gaethje even goes from here,” Thomas said about the #3 UFC light weight.
'Put him against Arman [Tsarukyan]?
“I would rather have seen him fight against Ilia, to be honest. I'd rather have seen that,” Thomas added.
“Maybe he was dropped a bit and it was just based on our own perception and bias towards Charles, just almost accepting that he deserved to be at that place and I didn't agree.”