Justin Gaethje has responded to Ilia Topuria’s latest comments and made it clear that he is open to fighting the former champion again. Topuria recently returned to social media after completing his medical tests and took another shot at Gaethje over their UFC Freedom 250 fight.Gaethje has dismissed the accusations surrounding his gloves and appears to have no problem sharing the Octagon with Topuria again. The lightweight champion also addressed the possibility of a rematch, confidently pointing to the result of their first meeting as the reason he would welcome another fight.
Justin Gaethje welcomes Ilia Topuria rematch after UFC Freedom 250 win
Justin Gaethje defeated Ilia Topuria by fourth-round TKO at the White House on June 14, 2026. The victory handed Topuria the first loss of his professional career and saw Gaethje become the undisputed UFC lightweight champion.The fight later became the subject of discussion after Topuria suggested that something unusual may have happened with Gaethje’s gloves.Topuria recently announced that he had completed his final medical tests and had been cleared to return to action.“Final medical tests done. I’m back,” stated Topuria on X.Now, Topuria is cleared to return, and Gaethje has already made his position on another meeting clear. “People don’t believe that. I’ve done that to everybody’s face that I’ve fought. Am I willing to [rematch Ilia]? I just beat the sh*t out of him. Of course I would.”The former champion also took aim at critics on X who had counted him out following his first career defeat. He also made a pointed reference to the glove controversy.“To all the clowns who’ve been talking s–t and counting me out this whole time, here I am. Now let’s see who’s got the balls. Thanks to everyone for the support. Next time I’ll make sure they check Justin’s gloves so he doesn’t put anything weird on them. See you soon,” he wrote on X.Topuria also directed a message at Gaethje and his manager Ali Abdelaziz. “By the way Justin, f–k you. And Ali, f–k you too,” he wrote.Gaethje responded directly to his tweet. He wrote, “94 days and the best you could come up with is a lame excuse. As terrible as your last performance. Do better kid.”Abdelaziz also replied to Topuria, “Welcome back Champ, I’m glad you are ok. I’m not gonna give you the F word back because your son is my friend and I cannot say bad words to his father, tell him I said what’s up he is the man.”Gaethje has previously laughed off suggestions that there was something unusual about his gloves during the fight. On the Joe Rogan Show, he addressed the theory with humor.“What a compliment! People saying I’m juiced, what a compliment! People saying I’ve got bricks in my f***ing gloves, what a compliment!” he said.There have been no public findings from UFC officials suggesting that Gaethje’s gloves contained anything unusual. The claims remain unproven.Topuria initially showed a different attitude immediately after the defeat. He did not make excuses and accepted that Gaethje had won.