Ilia Topuria and Justin Gaethje are currently embroiled in a heated online feud. The former lightweight champion accused ‘The Highlight’ of tampering with his gloves during their UFC White House fight, igniting a series of back-and-forth exchanges. But now, the lightweight champion’s manager has added more fuel to the already burning rivalry.
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“By the way, Justin, f— you,” Topuria wrote on X. “And Ali, f— you too.”
Gaethje’s manager quickly responded to Topuria’s post, explaining that he couldn’t curse back because he is friends with the former champion’s son, Hugo.
“Welcome back, Champ. I’m glad you are OK,” Ali responded. “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.”
Despite Abdelaziz’s relatively calm response, Topuria fired back once again, this time with a warning.
“Don’t bring my son into this,” Topuria responded. “You being his friend has nothing to do with me and you. You know exactly why I said what I said. So don’t hide behind him. F—k you still stands.”
Don’t bring my son into this . You being his friend has nothing to do with me and you. You know exactly why I said what I said. So don’t hide behind him. Fuck you still stands.
Topuria’s son and Ali Abdelaziz have never been spotted together, so it’s hard to tell whether the Dominance CEO is actually friends with Hugo. However, they could’ve had some interaction ahead of the UFC White House fight, which might be why the Spaniard didn’t oppose their friendship. Regardless, Topuria clearly despised Gaethje’s manager hiding behind his six- or seven-year-old son, plus shielding ‘The Highlight’ from his accusations.
In his viral post, the former two-division champion alleged that he felt Justin Gaethje had something “weird” in his gloves that made his punches more lethal. By calling out his manager, Topuria also implied that Ali, in some capacity, helped the Arizona native gain an unfair advantage that contributed to his fourth-round loss at the UFC White House.
So far, the 29-year-old hasn’t provided any evidence to back up his claims. However, his disdain for Ali Abdelaziz is nothing new.
Earlier this year, Topuria lambasted Gaethje’s manager. Before UFC Freedom 250 was finalized, ‘El Matador’ was rumored to face Islam Makhachev, but the matchup fell apart amid unsuccessful negotiations. As a result, “ducking” allegations flew from both camps. While the outspoken Spaniard took shots at his potential opponent, he also targeted Ali, who manages the Dagestani, calling him “ugly” and a “b–ch.”
In that case, Topuria’s history of clashes with the Egyptian-American has gained another chapter. However, the Spaniard isn’t the only fighter to have traded blows with the renowned manager. The former 155-pound king’s own agent, Malki Kawa, also tore into Ali after he claimed that PFL lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov would beat Topuria just like Gaethje did.
Now, as Ilia Topuria continued firing verbal shots, Justin Gaethje has fired back once again, this time with an interesting claim about their potential rematch.
Justin Gaethje gives Ilia Topuria a reality check with surprising rematch claim
Though Topuria is trying his best to convince people that Gaethje might have done something wrong during their June 14 matchup, ‘The Highlight’ responded with a very compelling fact. He revealed that he had hammer-smashed many faces before ‘El Matador’ got the bitter end of it.
“People don’t believe that,” Gaethje told Joy of Everything. “I’ve done that to everybody’s face that I’ve fought.”
As Gaethje pointed out, almost all of his fights have been brutal encounters. Just like Topuria, Rafael Fiziev and Tony Ferguson are a couple of names whose faces turned into a bloody canvas after fighting the reigning lightweight champion. But for a guy like Topuria, who had never dealt with an adversary like Gaethje before, it’s natural that it would take time to accept such a beating, and he pointed that out himself.
However, while both fighters continue to trade barbs, the intrigue lies in whether their trash talk will eventually materialize into a rematch. For a while, Gaethje didn’t want to welcome Topuria for another clash, stating that he had made him quit. But now, he seems to have changed his mind.
“We’ll see,” Gaethje added. “Time will tell. Am I willing to? I just beat the shit out of him, of course, I would.”
With that, Ilia Topuria has some very good news. He might actually get the chance to fix every mistake he made during their White House clash and reclaim the belt.
In fact, Dana White has also given the fight a green light. Still, only time will tell what the promotion ultimately decides.