Justin Gaethje Snubs Khabib Nurmagomedov From Personal MMA Mount Rushmore and Says Ilia Topuria Didn’t Quit

UFC lightweight champion Justin Gaethje has gone on multiple podcasts in recent weeks after competing twice in 2026.

Justin Gaethje Snubs Khabib Nurmagomedov From Personal MMA Mount Rushmore and Says Ilia Topuria Didn’t Quit

Justin Gaethje talked about Ilia Topuria and Khabib Nurmagomedov (Image via ESPN/MMA Fighting)

There is not a single definite list in the sport of MMA when it comes to making a Mount Rushmore of fighters. A conflict between impact, star power, and accomplishments makes it difficult to place the legends of the sport properly. Justin Gaethje and his list had the same problems.

The UFC lightweight champion is currently healing from some injuries and will not fight again in 2026. Recently, he has appeared on various podcasts after winning the lightweight title from Ilia Topuria at UFC Freedom 250. ‘The Highlight’ came on One Night with Steiny podcast.

The host, Aaron “Steiny” Steinberg, is a former acquaintance of Gaethje. The UFC champion and Steiny know each other when the podcaster worked with the Nelk Boys.

On the podcast, Steiny asked Gaethje for his MMA Mount Rushmore. The American fighter named Royce Gracie, Anderson Silva, Georges St-Pierre, and Jon Jones.

This led Steiny to ask whether UFC legend Khabib Nurmagomedov belonged on that list. Justin Gaethje added Chuck Liddell to the list as well, making it a personal top five list. He further said that Nurmagomedov didn’t belong on his list.

‘The Highlight’ didn’t choose a single from his lightweight division on the list. Leaving out Nurmagomedov in favor Jon Jones always becomes controversial due to the PED accusation faced by ‘Bones.’

Gaethje and Nurmagomedov has history between them as well. Both are managed by Ali Abdelaziz in the UFC. Moreover, Gaethje was Nurmagomedov’s last opponent in his UFC career as well.

Later on in the podcast, Gaethje mentioned that he was unsure if victory if he ever fought Nurmagomedov again. This could be why Gaethje not including ‘The Eagle’ went viral on social media.

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Steiny tries to make $1.1 million corner team deal with Justin Gaethje

Influencer N3on cornering Arman Tsarukyan at UFC 331 went viral on social media. Tsarukyan went on to defeat Mauricio Ruffy in Los Angeles to secure a future title shot. N3on became a meme on social media as his cornering record is now 1-0.

Steiny offers to corner Justin Gaethje
Steiny offers to corner Justin Gaethje (Image via YouTube/Instagram)

This led Steiny to ask Gaethje about the same thing. Steiny wanted to be a part of the lightweight champion’s corner team and even tried to make a deal happen.

What did you think of N3ON in Arman’s corner? He paid $250k to be in his corner allegedly. $1 million dollars and I’m in your corner, $1.1 million and we have a deal right now.

Steiny via One Night with Steiny

After that Steiny improved the deal to $1.5 million, but Gaethje still refused. ‘The Highlight’ revealed that he took his job seriously and already had the team needed to back him up.

It remains to be seen if more and more influencers offer massive money to UFC stars moving forward to become a part of their corner team.

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Justin Gaethje says Ilia Topuria didn’t quit when they fought

After losing at UFC Freedom 250, Ilia Topuria briefly went away from public limelight to heal from his injuries. The Georgian-Spanish fighter will return next year and wants to fight Gaethje in a rematch.

Ilia Topuria facing off against Justin Gaethje
Ilia Topuria facing off against Justin Gaethje (Image via MMA Fighting)

After Tsarukyan’s victory at UFC 331, he may get the next title shot over Topuria. This may leave Topuria to fight Paddy Pimblett for his return bout.

Surprisingly, Pimblett called out Topuria for quitting on stool after losing at the White House. Gaethje defended Topuria recently by saying that ‘El Matador’ didn’t make the decision on the stool.

He didn’t quit on the stool, his body was too compromised to continue fighting. He didn’t make the call, his coaches made the call because they’re there to protect him. My coaches are in my corner to protect me in those times.

Justin Gaethje via One Night with Steiny

There were a lot of fans calling Topuria a quitter after UFC Freedom 250. Gaethje highlighted the importance of having his coaches in his corner to protect him.

Topuria’s corner chose to fight another day than to not fight at all if the Georgian-Spanish fighter had gone back in for the fifth round. It remains to be seen if Gaethje and Topuria ever fights each other again.

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