By FCF Staff

Justin Gaethje isn’t saying he’ll hang up the gloves if he isn’t tapped for a title shot next. But it sounds like the longtime contender will be far from happy, if he doesn’t challenge for the UFC’s lightweight crown.

Since Gaethje recorded a decision win over Rafael Fiziev in March, the former WSOF champ has been driving for a title shot. But, the new champ, Ilia Topuria, has set his sights on facing Paddy Pimblett next, and has dismissed the idea that Gaethje should fight for the title.

More recently, Gaethje spoke with ESPN. While discussing his next bout, the fan favorite stopped short of saying what he’ll do, if no title shot is tabled (quote via MMA Fighting.com).

“I don’t even want to entertain that conversation because like I said, I have all the desire to compete,” Gaethje said. “If I felt that in any way, then I would be done here. I just want to—obviously, from a biased perspective—be recognized as the most consistent and one of the top guys in the world. I did what I did. How many more fights do I have to—if I fight fights where if they win they get a championship and then I win and it’s still I’m maybe going to have to fight someone else, this is not the situation that I wanted to get myself in and this is the situation I’m going to keep myself from. And that’s where we’re at.”

The 36-year-old Gaethje (26-5), who has gone 3 and 2 in his last 5 bouts, is currently ranked #5 in the UFC’s lightweight division.