What happens if Justin Gaethje doesn’t get the next UFC lightweight title shot? ‘We riot’

Top lightweight contender Justin Gaethje doesn’t want there to be any questions surrounding his stance ahead of the UFC 268 pay-per-view (PPV) event this Sat. night (Nov. 6) in New York, where “The Highlight” battles former Bellator champion Michael Chandler.

Title shot or bust riot.

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MASSIVE MIDDLEWEIGHT MATCH! Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) makes its highly anticipated return to Sydney, Australia, for the first time in five years on Sat., Sept. 9, 2023, with a 185-pound world title fight inside Qudos Bank Arena. In the ESPN+-streamed pay-per-view (PPV) main event, Middleweight roost-ruler, Israel Adesanya, plans to silence No. 5-seeded contender, Sean Strickland. In UFC 293’s hard-hitting Heavyweight co-main event, No-6-ranked fan favorite, Tai Tuivasa, locks horns with towering Russian, Alexander Volkov (No. 8).

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“If I don’t get the shot, we riot,” Gaethje said during the UFC 268 media day (via MMA Junkie). “We go to war. I have to be biased when it comes to this. I’m not going to be around here for much longer, so if I were to get snubbed again then, yeah, I’d have to do something about it. Whether that’s causing ruckus.”

That position may not sit well with No. 4-ranked Islam Makhachev, who thinks the 32 year-old Gaethje — last seen tapping to the recently-retired Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 254 — needs to make way for newer (and younger) competition.

“We all know what’s supposed to happen if I get this win on Saturday night, so hopefully you all riot with me,” said Gaethje, who wants to rematch Dustin Poirier for the lightweight title in early 2022. “I hope Poirier (wins) because I want my revenge ... but (Charles) Oliveira brings such a crazy style to the cage. I think that, for me, that would be a great matchup.”

Poirier challenges Oliveira for the lightweight strap at UFC 269 in December.