Cormier warns Gaethje faces no easy path as UFC lightweight champion at 37

Justin Gaethje holds the UFC lightweight title after one of the most celebrated upsets in recent MMA history, but former champion Daniel Cormier believes the 37-year-old faces a set of options with no comfortable answer as he plots his next move in 2027.

At UFC White House this past June, Gaethje finished Ilia Topuria in the fourth round to shatter the Georgian’s undefeated record and claim the undisputed lightweight belt. The win was widely praised as one of the most crowd-pleasing performances the sport has seen, yet it has left Gaethje at a crossroads rather than a clear destination.

Cormier, speaking on his YouTube channel, pointed to Gaethje’s age and the weight of family expectation as complicating factors. “When you look at JG and you look at him talking about his fighting, what the future looks like, and what he is going to do, there are a number of things that you have to really pay attention to,” Cormier said. “One, he’s 37 or 38. That’s getting up there in years, especially in that division.”

Cormier also recalled how Gaethje’s mother had publicly urged her son to retire in the build-up to UFC Freedom 250, and how the immediate aftermath of that win seemed to point toward him honouring that wish — until the competitive instinct resurfaced. “That thing that’s inside of him that makes him so special to so many starts to kind of tug at you,” Cormier said.

The most prominent option is a defence against Arman Tsarukyan, who strengthened his case for a title shot with a highlight-reel knockout of Mauricio Ruffy at UFC 331. Tsarukyan had previously damaged his standing with fans and UFC CEO Dana White after a last-minute withdrawal from a title fight against Islam Makhachev at UFC 311, but has since worked to rebuild his profile both inside and outside the octagon.

Cormier acknowledged Tsarukyan’s credentials while flagging the risk for Gaethje. “Arman Tsarukyan at this point is a massive star,” he said. “[Gaethje is] a big underdog in that fight. Probably bigger than he should be, especially after what people saw him do at UFC Freedom 250, but then the question becomes — can he replicate that again? Which he would need to in order to get past Arman Tsarukyan. And does he even want to?”

Behind that door sits Topuria, who had built a case as MMA’s top pound-for-pound fighter before the Gaethje loss, having held titles at both lightweight and featherweight and knocked out Charles Oliveira, Max Holloway, and Alexander Volkanovski. A rematch would carry enormous commercial weight but presents its own dangers.

The third path is retirement — walking away as champion, on his own terms, with his mother’s blessing. Gaethje has not ruled it out, and Cormier’s assessment suggests that, for a fighter who has given so much to the sport, it may be the hardest choice of all.