Justin Gaethje is still undecided on what comes next for him but no matter what happens, he won’t be competing again in 2026.
The reigning undisputed UFC lightweight champion went to war twice already this year with a back-and-forth battle against Paddy Pimblett in January and then pulling off a massive upset by stopping Ilia Topuria in the UFC White House main event in June. Both fights ended in victory for Gaethje but he obviously didn’t walk away unscathed so it’s understandable that he’s taking the necessary time to recover before potentially booking another fight.
“I still can’t punch anything,” Gaethje said when speaking to Sports Illustrated. “Both of my hands are still hurt from the fight so I’m just going to enjoy being the champion for the rest of the year because I fought two times already in the first six months.
“Put everything on paper, pros and cons, talk to my family and everybody that loves me to be honest with me and then I’ll make a decision.”
Gaethje has hinted that he plans to fight again, although with a few months still remaining in 2026 it’s always possible he changes his mind.
That said, Gaethje has plenty of options available to him if he decides to defend his undisputed title but he’s still not all that interested in running it back with Topuria in an immediate rematch.
While Topuria hasn’t said much of anything since the fight ended, there have been more than a few suggestions that he could potentially run it back with Gaethje right away.
Gaethje scoffed at that suggestion considering Topuria couldn’t make it off the stool after the fourth round ended and the fight was stopped.
But whether Gaethje wants that rematch or not, he acknowledged that the UFC is going to decide on his next opponent and that’s who he’ll fight — assuming he fights again.
“Ultimately the UFC makes the decision on who I’m going to fight next,” Gaethje said. “I guess if I’m not fighting until next year, [Topuria is] probably not going to fight until next year, too, seeing as he’s still recovering from some things. I don’t think that’s my next fight, in my gut.”
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