Justin Gaethje urged to not retire by ex-UFC fighter who says he must ‘make the most’ of title win

The UFC lightweight champion could also be leaving the game on top.

Justin Gaethje finished Ilia Topuria within the UFC Freedom 250 predominant event this past June, a result that finally earned the American fan favorite undisputed status at 155 kilos.

The veteran fighter’s victory was amongst the largest upsets in recent memory and marked Topuria’s very first loss in skilled mixed martial arts.

Many think that was a fitting way for ‘The Highlight’ to bid farewell to mixed martial arts, but one retired former UFC contender disagrees.

Should Justin Gaethje retire following his undisputed title win?🤔

On his third attempt, Justin Gaethje finally became the undisputed lightweight champion, pulling off certainly one of the largest upsets in combat sports history👏🏼

Matt Brown tells Justin Gaethje to fight on after becoming UFC lightweight champion

It just isn’t yet clear if the newly crowned lightweight king will return to the cage in pursuit of a successful title defense.

Gaethje has publicly shut down Paddy Pimblett and Topuria rematches, having beaten each men this yr already, and named Arman Tsarukyan as essentially the most deserving contender.

But ‘The Highlight’ has been open about the potential of retirement, and Gaethje’s mom even told JD Vance that her son is prone to call it quits.

Matt Brown thinks that will be a mistake, given the chance in front of Gaethje to maximise his championship victory, each financially and by way of legacy.

“Don’t forget what we’re doing is prize fighting,” Brown said on MMA Fighting’s The Fighter vs. The Author. “Justin’s value is higher than it’s ever been. Benefit from this s— while you possibly can.

“He’s not in a top five pound-for-pound (in history) argument. He’s not even in a top biggest lightweights argument really. He doesn’t have anything to lose going for it. He’s fidgeting with house money.

“He goes out and he wins a few fights, defends the title against a few top guys — Arman could be an enormous one I believe,” he continued. “I believe that’s an enormous notch on the belt. Avenging a loss to either Max (Holloway) or Charles (Oliveira), one other huge notch on the belt.

“He doesn’t have anything to lose. He loses to those guys, his legacy isn’t any lower than it was before.”

Reports say Tsarukyan will fight Charles Oliveira at UFC 331 for the symbolic BMF title.

If Gaethje does decide to fight again early next yr, that upcoming predominant event in Los Angeles could determine who could be standing across from him contained in the Octagon.