Justin
Gaethje finds it ridiculous that Conor
McGregor and his team are
pushing for a trilogy title bout with Dustin
Poirier just after UFC 257.
McGregor did well enough in the opening stanza, but Poirier’s leg
kicks took a toll before “The Diamond” won via second-round
knockout. McGregor remains a massive draw, but Gaethje doesn’t
belive the promotion should cater to the Irish star after they did
enough of that leading up to UFC 257.
“For them to come out and say he wants a title shot next, rematch
with Poirier, they’re f—ing idiots,” Gaethje told
ESPN. “He’s been treated special over and over and he didn’t
capitalize on this opportunity. That event was for him, it was for
him to win. He wants to be ‘Mr. Humble’ now, but you know he would
have been an asshole had he won that fight.”
Gaethje himself challenged for lightweight gold at UFC 254 against
Khabib
Nurmagomedov, losing by second-round triangle choke in the
second round in Abu Dhabi on Oct. 24. The former Series of Fighting
champion appears to be in the mix for another shot at the belt with
Nurmagomedov seemingly comfortable in retirement.
Gaethje lists McGregor among the opponents he would be interested
in facing, along with Poirier, Michael
Chandler, Charles
Oliveira and Nate Diaz. He
doesn’t see a McGregor fight coming to fruition, and if the former
two-division champ fights for a title, Gaethje might take some
drastic measures.
“He’s not fighting for a title. I will think about never fighting
in the UFC again if he fights for a title. That would be
preposterous,” Gaethje said. “He’s sitting at No. 6, he’s won one
fight in his entire life in the lightweight division. He picks and
chooses who he fights. I would love to fight him but I don’t think
it should be next. But he ain’t gonna fight me.”