Ilia Topuria
Justin Gaethje
Conversation History
“Ilia, I trust in my A to B, it’s what I have to trust in. I trust in my intuition. I trust in my ability to judge distance and time and just be there. This sport is so crazy. Anything can happen... it comes down to not making mistakes against a guy like that... Not eating his right hand. Not walking into his right hand. His left hook, his 2—3 is one of the best combinations I’ve seen in this sport, so it’s a beautiful challenge, and I love how scared I’ll be”
– via an interview with ESPN Deportes providing a deep technical and psychological breakdown of a potential title unification against Ilia Topuria.
“It comes down to not making mistakes against a guy like that... It's a beautiful challenge, and I love how scared I'll be”
– via an interview with Carlos Contreras Legaspi discussing the "terrifying" prospect of facing undisputed lightweight champion Ilia Topuria.
“If Justin Gaethje wins, the ufc has different plans that i can't talk about at this moment”
– via Carlos Contreras Legaspi, stating that if Justin Gaethje is victorious in his fight, the UFC already has "different plans" for him
“I wanna play spoiler just like I did in Khabib and Tony. I'm going to f**k this up for everybody, and there is going to be no Paddy and Ilia. I'm going to do the same thing I did for that fight, and then i'm going to fight Ilia on the White House card if he's ready to fight again”
– via the UFC 2026 seasonal press conference, stating his intention to ""play spoiler"" by beating Paddy Pimblett, thereby canceling the highly anticipated Pimblett vs. Topuria fight, and then challenging Ilia Topuria for the undisputed title.