Morning Report: Justin Gaethje blames Dana White for the current lightweight title mess

Esther Lin, MMA Fighting At UFC 254, Khabib Nurmagomedov defended his lightweight title against Justin Gaethje, winning by second-round submission. After the fight, Khabib announced his retirement from the sport, however, near three months later and Khabib remains the 155 pound champion, largely because UFC President Dana White has refused to accept Nurmagomedov’s retirement. Last month though, White was finally forced to face reality.
Heading into UFC 257, White was transparently hoping for Conor McGregor to defeat Dustin Poirier so he could try and set up a lucrative rematch between Khabib and McGregor. Unfortunately for White, Poirier knocked out McGregor in the second round. Afterwards, White said he’d finally give up on coaxing Khabib back and suggested Poirier fight Michael Chandler - who knocked out Dan Hooker in his UFC debut that evening - as the fight to make for the vacant belt. Once again though, Poirier ruined White’s plans by saying he would not fight Chandler for the title, preferring a fight with Charles Oliveira if it were to be for the belt. The end result is a lightweight title picture that is a muddled mess, and Gaethje at least, knows exactly who to blame.
“The reason why this is happening with Poirier is because Dana White literally used, he tried to, he did, he f*cked Tony (Ferguson) and Dustin,” Gaethje told MMAJunkie. “He said f*ck you guys, I’m going to take Chandler, and he’s going to be the backup for this title fight. That all happened three or four months ago. We are human, we have principles, we have morals, and that’s what that is. That’s why Dustin Poirier is saying (he won’t fight Chandler). Well, I would assume. I don’t talk to the guy.
“When Dana White did that, he didn’t just sh*t on Dustin Poirier, he didn’t just sh*t on Tony Ferguson. He sh*t on every single f*cking fighter that does it right, that wants to do it right and wants integrity to the sport, and that’s why Dustin Poirier is talking like he is.”
Gaejthe is referring to the UFC’s decision last year to declare the newly signed Michael Chandler as the official backup for the lightweight title fight between Khabib and Gaethje. Originally, the UFC were planning to have a co-main event fight between the other two top-ranked lightweights at the time, Poirier and Ferguson, and both men agreed in principle to the fight but the UFC refused to meet their financial requests. Then the UFC tried to make a fight between Chandler and Ferguson but again they couldn’t get the money right and so instead Chandler became the official fallback plan. All of that, Gaethje said, was the start of the current problems in the division.
“That’s just the truth. You remember how upset Tony and Dustin were whenever they didn’t put that fight together because there was probably $50,000 or $100,000 off one of their contracts, and they didn’t put the contract together,” Gaethje continued. “Those guys were ready to fight.
“They put it in the public, and that sh*t is not right. I don’t like that as a fighter. I don’t like that being an employee. Well, I’m no f*cking employee but being somebody that offers my services to a company. That’s not cool. You don’t want to see that. So I just know that’s why Dustin is saying what he’s saying, and that’s why he won’t fight Chandler for the title right now because they did that sh*t in October. I don’t know it, but I’m pretty sure.”
It certainly seems like the UFC is trying to force Chandler into the lightweight title picture. Yesterday it was reported that the UFC attempted to put a non-title fight between Chandler and Oliveira on UFC 258 in two weeks. Those plans were stymied though as Oliveira turned the short-notice fight down and Gaethje, for one, hopes the UFC does the right thing and makes Poirier vs. Oliveira, even if that means he doesn’t get to fight for the title next.
“You wouldn’t be wrong to put Oliveira and Poirier in there,” Gaethje said. “Nobody can argue against that.. . I want Poirier. I’m number two. The sh*tty thing is the UFC is much more likely to put Poirier and McGregor in there before they put me and Poirier in there. That’s just the truth. I hope that they do Oliveira-Poirier.”
Despite his belief that the UFC has mishandled the lightweight division the last few months, and what seems like frustration with the current situation, Gaethje wants to make it clear that he’s still very happy with the UFC overall.
“I’m happy,” Gaethje concluded. “I’m good. I just got more money than I’ve ever got. I’m not dissatisfied. I don’t want to fight anywhere else. This is the company to showcase your skills at the highest level. I try to be a company man from Day 1.”

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[h=1]TOP STORIES[/h]Hangman. Dan Hooker reflects on knockout loss to Michael Chandler: ‘You prepare yourself for worst-case scenarios, but even that took the cake’.
Smart. Charles Oliveira turned down non-title fight against Michael Chandler at UFC 258.
Chicks dig scars. Paige VanZant not afraid of getting bloody in BKFC debut: ‘I heard statistically that scars make you more attractive’.
Negligence. Calvin Kattar’s head coach Tyson Chartier explains decision to not stop UFC Fight Island 7 fight with Max Holloway.
USADA. Abu Azaitar gets reduced 7-month suspension for tamoxifen positives, retroactive TUE denied.

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[h=1]VIDEO STEW[/h]Top finishes of Alistair Overeem.


Free fight.


Usman says he’d never chase a fight Khabib.


Khamzat beating up a heavy bag.

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[h=1]LISTEN UP[/h]The Co-Main Event. Discussing Overeem-Volkov and listener questions.
Anik & Florian. Discussing Overeem-Volkov and the latest UFC news.

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[h=1]SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE[/h]Respect.
Volkov got large.
Motivation.
Jorge.
Mad.
Self-improvement.

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[h=1]FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS[/h]Devonte Smith (10-2) vs. Justin Jaynes (16-6); UFC Vegas 18, Feb. 6.
Jim Miller (32-15) vs. Bobby Green (27-11-1); UFC 258, Feb. 13.
Jessica Penne (12-5) vs. Hannah Cifers (5-1); UFC 260, Mar. 27.

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[h=1]FINAL THOUGHTS[/h]Man, it was a banner day for heavy bags yesterday.
Thanks for reading and see y’all tomorrow.

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[h=1]EXIT POLL[/h]

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