Justin Gaethje opens up on next fight and retirement

Justin Gaethje has said that there are two options ahead of him: to defend his UFC lightweight title against Arman Tsarukyan or retire, but he is not pretending that his next move is settled.

Gaethje dethroned former lightweight UFC champion Ilia Topuria, winning the title unification fight by TKO at UFC Freedom 250.

Before defeating ‘El-Matador’, Gaethje got rid of Paddy Pimblett by unanimous decision at UFC 324 on January 25, 2026, to win the interim UFC lightweight championship.

Gaethje appeared on One Night With Steiny, where he answered questions about his next move and his recent remarks.

Justin said the reaction to his retirement remarks was insane and that one part of a long conversation can take over the whole lightweight discussion.

He pushed back on the idea that a short clip captured everything he meant, then he admitted that Tsarukyan is the top contender if he chooses to continue.

“I think it’s natural and obvious that they’re gonna try to figure out who the next guy is. Arman just had a huge fight, a huge finish,” Gaethje said.

The lightweight UFC champion then made it clear that Arman is not the problem, and the delay is because of his health and readiness.

“If I was able and willing to fight this year, then we would be fighting at the end of this year,” the American added.

“I just have injuries from these last two fights that I need to recover from. A deep, deep bone bruise in my knee.”

When the host presented retirement or a fight with Tsarukyan as the two possible outcomes, Gaethje admitted that they were fair options. However, he made it clear that he has not decided on either one.

“If you had to put two things on paper, those would be the two things that you would put on a piece of paper,” Gaethje said.