UFC analyst: No easy option for Justin Gaethje, including retirement

UFC lightweight champion Justin Gaethje would seem to be in a most favorable position – or is he really stuck between a rock and a hard place?

Gaethje (28-5 MMA, 11-5 UFC) had a monumental career moment when he came up big as an underdog to finish Ilia Topuria (17-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC) to claim the title at UFC Freedom 250 this past June. Gaethje acknowledged that Arman Tsarukyan is the No. 1 contender but still hasn't made a decision on whether he's going to fight again, which has UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier pondering his options.

"He's got the Arman door if he ever wants to open it and fight that fight," Cormier said on his YouTube channel. "Arman Tsarukyan, at this point, is a massive star. People love him for what he has done outside of mixed martial arts to make himself viable, but he's a big underdog in that fight, probably bigger than he should be, especially after what people saw (Gaethje) do at UFC Freedom 250. But then the question becomes, as Justin said himself, he had the performance of his life. Can he replicate that again, which he would need to in order to get past Arman Tsarukyan, and does he even want to? That's Option 1.

"Ilia Topuria as a second option, but again that's dangerous because while Justin got the job done, there were moments where Ilia hurt him. And Justin, to his credit, has spoken about the fight, spoken about the game plan, and you would expect Ilia to go and try to fix the areas where he may have struggled. Justin said his rhythm, his timing, and he was timing his stuff with his punches. You can even go back and watch some of the documentary, and you hear Trevor Wittman telling Justin in spots where to take advantage of the things Ilia was doing, especially in the striking. Ilia will go and improve that. He will go and fix that, right? I would like to see the odds for an Ilia Topuria rematch. Even that, if Justin did go down that path, to his point, what's he got to prove? He beat him on the biggest stage that the UFC has ever been on. It doesn't work. It doesn't really seem like it would suit him."

What about Justin Gaethje vs. Conor McGregor?

The third option Cormier assessed for Gaethje is Conor McGregor, who "The Highlight" has always been willing to fight.

"He had the the McGregor option, but then Conor goes in there with Max Holloway and has what happened there, so you've got to think that's off the table," Cormier said. "Max Holloway losing to Charles Olivera got him the Conor McGregor fight. Justin Gaethje beating Ilia Topuria almost guarantees he doesn't get the Conor McGregor fight because of the way Conor McGregor fought against Max Holloway. But does the Ilia Topuria fight get him up again? But again, +210 after beating Ilia at the White House immediately after odds come out, and he's a +210 underdog. So now you've got a guy that's 37, who is thinking about retirement, who is not hiding the idea that he might be done with this thing, having to go and fight two guys, right? Where he's a big time underdog again to defend a championship that took him a lifetime to achieve.

"He said it's never been about money with him. It's been about fighting, and it's been about the health. So many fighters say that. With Justin Gaethje, I believe it, knowing him the way that I know him. Justin Gaethje loves the competition. He loves the ability to get in there with someone and try to win in that one-on-one combat sport type of environment. But if that fire is gone, if that pull of 'I need to go beat that man in the octagon' is gone, then what's the point? Because there aren't fairytale endings in mixed martial arts. I have said this time and time again. Justin Gaethje, Georges St-Pierre, Robbie Lawler, those are about as close to fairytales as you can get in a sendoff for a fight. The vast majority of fighters end the way that I did on a loss, having to go and rebuild yourself to go into the next part of your life."

What about retirement for Justin Gaethje?

While Cormier encourages fighters to hang up their gloves while on top, he wonders if Gaethje will still have the urge to compete if retirement is indeed what he opts for.

"There is no easy option for Justin Gaethje because even in retiring, it's hard," Cormier said. "Even if staying and winning again, it's hard because there's always going to be a pull to do it again. Now, Conor McGregor fight, Justin said, absolutely. But to me, that fight is just not possible because he's the world champion. If he was Justin Gaethje, you without that belt, everybody's favorite fighter, the guy that lays it on the line and just goes to war, maybe he had lost his last fight? Possibly.

"But as the world champion, (McGregor) can't happen. And also I read somewhere where he said he would vacate the belt to fight Conor. You can't do that. You can't do that. It would harm his legacy to give away the belt and put value in the money fight over being a world champion, and I can't imagine Justin Gaethje would do that. Probably was just talking, but Gaethje's got options. Retirement is a very, very strong one for him. But even in that, it's going to be a very difficult one for Justin Gaethje."

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC analyst: 'No easy option for Justin Gaethje,' including retirement