Justin Gaethje explains why he's confident about his chances in a possible rematch with Dustin Poirier

Justin Gaethje (left) & Dustin Poirier (right) [Image Credits- @ufc on Twitter]

As Dustin Poirier potentially stands on the cusp of lightweight glory, Justin Gaethje fancies his chances against his former foe should a fight between the two come to pass somewhere down the line.

'The Highlight' recently declared that he will be much more focused on getting the win the second time around, rather than the reckless approach he employed the first time.

Coming off a decisive unanimous decision victory over Michael Chandler at UFC 268, Justin Gaethje is eyeing lightweight gold. Should Dustin Poirier manage to outperform Charles Oliveira at UFC 269, a fight between Poirier and Gaethje may be inevitable.

Justin Gaethje previously slipped up against Dustin Poirier as he suffered a fourth-round knockout at UFC on FOX 29 back in April 2018. While in conversation with Jim Norton and Bobby Kelly on the UFC Unfiltered podcast, Justin Gaethje opened up about how the rematch could play out.

"There's nothing from that night that terrifies me to relive. But I don't think the same would be said for him. I'm looking forward to the rematch. With this last fight I've understood how much my skills should be a factor. So yeah, it's a much different fight all the way around," said Justin Gaethje.

Catch the latest episode of UFC Unfiltered with Justin Gaethje right here:

Justin Gaethje believes Islam Makhachev needs to do more for a title shot

Islam Makhachev has been making waves in the UFC lightweight division. His momentum has only grown ever since he made short work of Dan Hooker at UFC 267.

It’s not my fault that I did not fight with ranked opponent, everybody declines to fight with me.
And still, I’m #4 now.. Name a single fighter from top 10 who wants to fight me now.
UFC had to overpay Hooker to take this fight🤷🏼‍♂️
It’s slowly turning into boxing. twitter.com/Ealvarezfight/…

With the first-round submission against the Kiwi, Makhachev managed to make his way to No. 4 on the lightweight rankings. In the wake of these developments, Makhachev believes he has done enough to warrant a shot at the title. However, Justin Gaethje believes otherwise.

"At the end of the day Makhachev fought No. 14, went to No. 5 and fought a late replacement in Dan Hooker. It wasn't Dan Hooker on a full camp, it does not count as much. But it's still, I'll give him, it's two Top-15 guys, none in the Top-5, only one in the Top-10, that's not how this shit works," declared Justin Gaethje.

With Beniel Dariush perched at No. 3 in the rankings, Gaethje revealed that a fight between the two was the next logical step in Islam Makhachev's journey instead of a shot at gold.