Justin Gaethje fought Dustin Poirier for the first time back in 2018. The fight was early in Gaethje's UFC career and the bout was extremely exciting.

Now the two could potentially fight again as Justin Gaethje expects to fight the winner of the lightweight title fight at UFC 269. He isn't exactly hoping Dustin Poirier wins, and not for any reason you might think.

“I hope Oliveira wins,” Gaethje told MMAFighting. “A part of me thinks — after I fought Dustin Poirier, I went outside and I took 100, 200 pictures and I felt great, not one thought or emotion from that fight am I scared to experience again. I know for a fact when Dustin Poirier has to step in there with me again, he’s going to remember and constantly be analyzing that night. He was not out taking pictures. He was probably in the most pain of his fucking life.

“If he doesn’t land the shot in the first round, he knows he’s going to have to go through that again. If he beats Charles Oliveira, I don’t know if he fights me. I think he just walks away, calls it good. So I kind of hope Charles Oliveira wins so I get to fight him March, April, May. If Dustin Poirier wins, I’m going to have to really entice him to fucking get in there again.”

The hypothetical rematch against Dustin Poirier would go very differently according to Justin Gaethje. The former UFC interim champion changed his style after the first fight.

He had to take a step back and absorb less damage in his fight. Since then the only man to beat him has been Khabib Nurmagomedov.

“Now he gets to fight a more refined and a more sophisticated psychopath,” Gaethje said when describing his improvements since losing to Poirier the first time. “I think a rematch would be a completely different instance in time. I think the previous fight would have zero factors on what would occur on that night. I think it would be a fresh experience and I think it would be again, a battle for the ages.

“But again, I don’t know if I can get the dog from him anymore. If he steps in there, I know for a fact the dog’s coming but I don’t know if I can get him to step in there. In my heart of hearts, that’s what I truly believe.”

UFC 269 is going to be very interesting as Charles Oliveria defends his title against Dustin Poirier. Justin Gaethje will be keeping his eyes on the matchup and hoping he gets next.