A fight between former 205lb title contender Justin Gaethje and Charles Oliveira may well be up next if Dana White gets his way.
“If everything goes right, it will probably be (Charles) Oliveira,” White said on a virtual Q&A yesterday when asked who was next for Gaethje.
Gaethje is looking to get back to winning ways after his title dream failed at the final hurdle when he was submitted by lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov back in October of 2020.
That ended a memorable four-fight winning streak in which Gaethje had demonstrated his fearsome punching power with a trio of first-round stoppages during which he KO’d both James Vick and Edson Barboza, then TKO’d Donald Cerrone, followed by a fifth round TKO of Tony Ferguson.
Still ranked as the No.1 contender in the division, Gaethje now goes up against another fighter with an impressive winning streak, as Oliveira has racked up no less than 8 victories in a row over the past two-and-a-half years.
That formidable run began with a rash of submission victories against Clay Guida, Christos Giagos, Jim Miller and David Teymur, then a TKO win against Nik Lentz and KO of Jared Gordon. That led to bigger fights, beating Kevin Lee by submission and finally Tony Ferguson by decision.
As such, Oliveira has now risen to the No.3 spot on the rankings and is looking to home in on a title opportunity in 2021.
