UFC: Gaethje Talks Poirier vs McGregor And Ferguson vs Oliveira

Former UFC interim lightweight champion Justin Gaethje says he wants to fight the winner of Dustin Poirier vs Conor McGregor 2 for the title.

Gaethje is coming off a second-round submission loss at UFC 254 to champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, who announced his retirement right after the fight. With the reigning champion possibly out of the equation, the 155lbs division is offering a number of intriguing matchups that will decide the fate of the division in the coming months.

Dustin Poirier vs Conor McGregor

‘The Highlight’ wants to get back to winning ways, and get his title aspirations back on track, he told The Schmo (as transcribed by BJPenn.com).

“I’m number one so of course I want to fight for that f***ing belt, that’s why I’m here. Poirier and McGregor are fighting soon so I want to fight the winner of that,” Gaethje said. “I wholeheartedly believe you should be coming off a win to fight for a belt. So my job now is to get a win.”

But if in case, he does not get back-to-back title shots, Gaethje plans to get back into the win column, before campaigning for a second go at the lightweight crown.

“I want to fight for the belt and if it is the winner of that fight, then I would in turn need to beat somebody first. But, I’ll definitely just fight the winner for the belt. I’m down for that, too,” Gaethje added.

Tony Ferguson vs Charles Oliveira

Among the upcoming matchups at lightweight, Tony Ferguson vs Charles Oliveira is perhaps the most intriguing. They are scheduled to fight this weekend in the UFC 256 co-main event. Gaethje, who beat ‘El Cucuy’ to win the interim lightweight title at UFC 249, is picking his former opponent to win (as transcribed by Bloody Elbow).

“I don’t know, man. How intriguing. Tony coming back — I was talking about it earlier with some fighters and I think Tony’s going to win,” Gaethje said. “I think to do what I did against him, you have to fight a certain way. I don’t think Oliveira fights like that.

“I think his striking [technique] is similar to someone like Anthony Pettis who is on their heels a lot. So I think he’s going to have similar issues that Pettis had against Ferguson.”

Last month, Michael Chandler announced through Twitter that he has officially started his training camp for his next fight, raising speculations that a fight with Gaethje mat be on the horizon.

With two huge lightweight bouts coming up in the next five weeks, and the question mark surrounding Khabib’s fighting future, Gaethje’s next opponent and the title picture remains uncertain.

Who would you like to see Justin Gaethje fight next?

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