Justin Gaethje: Conor McGregor Needs To ‘Either Go Away Or Fight’
According to Justin Gaethje, there are two possible fights for Conor McGregor to come back for. Himself or Dustin Poirier. McGregor has been teasing a comeback ever since the six month suspension he received from the NSAC, for his part in the UFC 229 brawl, came to an end.
Speaking to ESPN’s Ariel Helwani in August, McGregor said that he was in talks to face Gaethje, before he broke his hand in training last May. Gaethje has had enough of all the talk though. Talking to TMZ Sports, ‘The Highlight’ said McGregor needs to ‘either go away or fight’.
“He keeps tweeting he’s going to fight. On planet earth there’s two people that will possibly fight him, me or Dustin Poirier. So he either goes away…he’s only fought two times ever in the lightweight division, in his whole career, he’s fought two times. He lost one, he’s won one, he’s ranked three, for some odd reason. He [needs to] either goes away or fight. And it’s me or Dustin.”
Despite what Conor told Ariel, Gaethje accused McGregor of ducking him. The 30 year old said that he has done everything he can to get a response from him, but to no prevail.
“He replied to Dustin on social media. He will not reply to me. I wrote him a message f***king seven months ago, just trying to be his friend. I’ve tried every route. I’m trying reverse psychology, I’m trying to be his friend, I’m trying every fucking route that there is to draw this man out. And I can’t draw him out. And he’s calling out Frankie Edgar. It’s a slap in the face to me, to all the lightweights.”
Last month UFC president Dana White, said he expects McGregor to return early next year. It is expected that the former UFC two division champion will face Gaethje or Poirier, with Edgar having an outside chance. Despite the fact that ‘The Answer’ announced after his last fight that he would be moving down to bantamweight, he has been campaigning for a fight with McGregor.
Gaethje is likely to be disappointed if Poirier gets his way. After he was called out by Dan Hooker after his win against Al Iaquinta at UFC 243, Poirier responded by saying that he was fighting McGregor next.
McGregor was last seen inside the Octagon at UFC 229 one year ago, when he was submitted by Khabib Nurmagomedov in the fourth round. Gaethje is coming off an impressive first round finish of ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone last month at UFC Vancouver. It was his third straight first round finish.
Poirier is looking to bounce back, having lost to Khabib at UFC 242. It ended a run of six fights without losing. The McGregor vs Poirier fight would have extra intrigue as the two fought previously at UFC 178 five years ago at featherweight. ‘The Notorious’ stopped ‘The Diamond’ in the first round on the night. After the defeat, Poirier moved up to lightweight, where he only lost once in eleven fights, before coming up short against Khabib in Abu Dhabi last month.
Who do you think Conor McGregor should fight next?
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