Topuria accuses Gaethje of cheating with his gloves, and Gaethje calls it a lame excuse

Topuria accuses Gaethje of cheating, three months after the only loss of his career. In posts on X on September 16, Ilia Topuria announced he had passed his final medical tests, then suggested Justin Gaethje had put something in his gloves at the White House card in June. He offered no evidence. Gaethje answered within hours: a lame excuse, he said, and told him to do better.

Key takeaways

Ilia Topuria (17-1) posted on X that he has completed his final medical tests and is back, then wrote that next time he will make sure Justin Gaethje's gloves are checked.
He gave no evidence, and no formal complaint has been made public; Gaethje (28-5) replied that after 94 days, a lame excuse was the best Topuria could come up with.
Gaethje beat Topuria at UFC Freedom 250 in June when Topuria's corner stopped the fight after four rounds; his physical trainer says he will be ready to fight from February 2027.

What Topuria accuses Gaethje of

Two posts, one insinuation

The first post was good news for his fans: final medical tests done, he wrote, and he is back. The second changed the tone. Topuria said that next time he would make sure someone checks Justin’s gloves so that Gaethje does not put anything weird on them. He did not say what, did not point to a moment in the fight and did not share any image.

No evidence, no complaint

No report of an irregularity was made after the fight, and no formal complaint from Topuria’s team has been made public since. At UFC events, hand wraps and gloves are put on under the supervision of the athletic commission’s inspectors, which is exactly why an accusation of this kind, three months later and without detail, is being read as frustration rather than as a case.

How Gaethje answered Topuria

94 days

Gaethje did not let it sit. He replied on X the same day, pointing at the time that had passed since the fight and at the quality of the accusation, and ending with a line that will follow Topuria into his comeback: do better, kid. The number was deliberate. It is the gap between the loss and the first public explanation for it.

Not only Gaethje

The reaction around the division went the same way. Arman Tsarukyan, who fights Mauricio Ruffy at UFC 331 this weekend, said on The Mac Life that Topuria is making excuses about Gaethje’s gloves. For a fighter whose aura was built on control and certainty, it is an unfamiliar position.

Ilia, 94 days and the best you could come up with is a lame excuse. As terrible as your last performance. Do better kid.
— Justin Gaethje, on X

Why the accusation changes nothing, for now

What happened in June

At UFC Freedom 250 on the White House lawn, Gaethje broke Topuria down over four rounds until his corner stopped the fight. Topuria left with two orbital fractures and the first loss of a career that had been perfect until then, and with it the lightweight title. Nothing in the official result has been challenged.

The rematch still has no date

Both men are still recovering. Topuria’s physical trainer, Jesús Gallo, says he will be ready to fight from February 2027, and Gaethje said at the end of August that both his hands are still injured and that he will not fight before 2027. Paddy Pimblett remains the other name for Topuria’s return. The accusation adds heat to a rematch that sells itself, but it does not move the calendar.

Follow the Topuria and Gaethje rivalry with real numbers

Ilia Topuria’s and Justin Gaethje’s full records, their fight history and the current lightweight rankings are in the FightHub app. Download it to follow the rematch talk as it turns into a booking.