"It’s called respect you fool" - Justin Gaethje responds to Charles Oliveira's jibe
Justin Gaethje has fired back at Charles Oliveira in response to the reigning UFC lightweight champion's recent comments regarding their backstage interaction at UFC 269.
Gaethje approached Oliveira backstage at UFC 269, shortly after the Brazilian had impressively defended his title against Dustin Poirier. 'The Highlight' congratulated 'Do Bronx' on his victory and even commended his performance.
Nothing but respect between @Justin_Gaethje and @CharlesDoBronxs. 👏
We’ll be counting down the days till these two throw down! #UFC269 https://t.co/fCzgOhOnMc
Oliveira, on his part, was respectful towards Gaethje as well. However, the Brazilian recently spoke to MMA Fighting and suggested that Gaethje’s show of respect during their backstage interaction was fake. He said:
“The guy is talking a bunch of cr*p the entire time, and when we meet face-to-face he says he has all the respect for me and what I do — and two minutes later he’s saying he’ll break my face and saying a bunch of stuff. These guys hype things up and try to sell the fight with something they are not. If you’re a humble guy, if you’re a respectful guy, you have to sell the fight that way. If you’re a guy that talks cr*p, you have to sell the fight talking cr*p the entire time — to my face and behind my back.”
Charles Oliveira reacts to backstage encounter with Justin Gaethje, wants underdog status so ‘my fans make money’ (@guicruzzz) mmafighting.com/2021/12/24/228… https://t.co/xaKjRG1OZk
In response, Justin Gaethje took to Twitter to hit back. The American tweeted:
“@CharlesDoBronxs it’s called respect you fool and we are in the breaking faces business. My respect that night was just as real as my intention to take everything from you in your country @ufc#uhvaimorrer”
@CharlesDoBronxs it’s called respect you fool and we are in the breaking faces business. My respect that night was just as real as my intention to take everything from you in your country @ufc #uhvaimorrer twitter.com/mmafighting/st…
Justin Gaethje is expected to take on Charles Oliveira in 2022.
Justin Gaethje has famously labeled Charles Oliveira a quitter
Leading up to Charles Oliveira’s title defense against Dustin Poirier, Justin Gaethje repeatedly attacked the former for being a quitter. Gaethje believes that Oliveira has a tendency to wilt under pressure. ‘The Highlight’ said:
“Right now, Oliveira still has some quit in him, and he hasn’t been tested by the best guys. We’ll see how he handles Poirier. I can’t give him credit now. But if he goes out there and beats Poirier, I have no other choice but to give him the respect he deserves.”
Justin Gaethje isn't convinced that Charles Oliveira is the best fighter at lightweight right now. 👀
Source, ESPN MMA: youtube.com/watch?v=60OtVC… https://t.co/rGIOrTzIwu
After Oliveira’s impressive win over Dustin Poirier at UFC 269, Justin Gaethje did indeed express his respect towards the champion. That said, Gaethje continues to reiterate that he intends to break Oliveira when they clash for the title.
The American has shared that he is open to fighting Charles Oliveira in Brazil. In an interview with MMA Junkie, Gaethje said:
“That would be awesome, yeah. I don't know if Brazil is an option yet. Maybe next year. Maybe not. One day I want to do that. That was my dream when I first came into the UFC... to go into Brazil, fight their champion. That was the chaos that I wanted, day one."
Watch Justin Gaethje's full interview with MMA Junkie below: