Topuria Accuses Gaethje of Glove Tampering After UFC Fight

Ilia Topuria has accused Justin Gaethje of tampering with his gloves during their UFC White House fight on June 14, 2026, reigniting a feud between the two lightweight fighters. The accusation, made in a social media post on September 16, 2026, has drawn responses from Gaethje, UFC President Dana White, commentator Jon Anik, and fellow fighter Arman Tsarukyan. Topuria, who suffered two broken orbital bones during a fourth-round stoppage loss to Gaethje at UFC Freedom 250, announced he has been medically cleared to return. In his post on X, which has reportedly garnered 12 million views, he wrote: "Next time I'll make sure they check Justin's gloves so he doesn't put anything weird on them." He followed with a direct insult to Gaethje and his manager, Ali Abdelaziz. Gaethje responded bluntly, calling the accusation a "lame excuse" and stating he would happily fight Topuria again. In a video posted on social media, Gaethje said, "People don't believe that. I've done that to everybody's face that I fought. Am I willing to rematch him? I just beat the s*** out of him, of course I would.