Justin Gaethje named best fighter to watch in UFC by former title challenger: "He's a warrior"

UFC lightweight Justin Gaethje is hailed by many as one of the most entertaining fighters in MMA. 'The Highlight' is revered for his high-risk, aggressive fighting style. Gaethje boasts a professional MMA record of 24 wins and four losses. Of his 24 wins, 19 have come via KO/TKO, one by submission and four via decision.

In a recent interview with The Schmo, MMA fan favorite and former UFC featherweight title challenger Brian Ortega expressed his respect for Justin Gaethje. When asked to name his favorite fighter in the UFC today, Ortega said:

"Ooh, that's a tough one. Favorite fighter to watch in the UFC right now -- I like Justin Gaethje. Yeah, Justin Gaethje; I have a lot of love for the way his fighting style is and everything. So, when he shows up, he shows up to fight. He shows up to go in there. You have fighters, and you have gladiators, right? Or warriors -- He's a warrior. And I know the fans love warriors. And like, I look forward to seeing him fight again."

Furthermore, Brian Ortega discussed the possibility of the No. 3-ranked UFC lightweight Justin Gaethje facing the No. 2-ranked Dustin Poirier in a rematch next. Their closely contested first fight saw Poirier beat Gaethje via fourth-round TKO in April 2018.

'T-City' recalled being seated in the front row for the Gaethje-Poirier matchup in 2018 and enjoying the fight. He added that he'd like to watch the rematch too. Ortega suggested that if the Gaethje-Poirier rematch materializes, he'd likely request UFC president Dana White to accord him front-row tickets.

Watch Ortega discuss the topic at 5:02 in the video below:

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Is a potential Justin Gaethje vs Dustin Poirier rematch on the horizon?

Justin Gaethje's most recent fight saw him beat Rafael Fiziev via majority decision in a back-and-forth showdown earlier this month.

Meanwhile, Dustin Poirier's last octagon outing ended in a win against Michael Chandler via third-round submission in a thrilling matchup in November 2022.

It's believed that reigning UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev's next title defense could take place at UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi on October 21, 2023. Makhachev's opponent for the event is yet to be announced.

A fan recently addressed Poirier on Twitter and proposed that the winner of a rematch between him and fellow former interim UFC lightweight champion Gaethje could fight Makhachev for the latter's title.

Moreover, there's no clear-cut number-one contender in the UFC lightweight division as of now. Gaethje, for his part, has been calling for a rematch against Poirier next.

Touching on the variables at play, Poirier responded to the fan's tweet by indicating that he's indeed open to fighting Gaethje next, possibly winning, and then fighting Makhachev for the title. Expressing interest in a potential rematch against Gaethje, 'The Diamond' tweeted:

"Let's go"