Justin Gaethje Believes Conor McGregor May Fight Him After UFC 246 Win
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| Photo Credit: Steven Branscombe - USA TODAY Sports Justin Gaethje believes a clash with Conor McGregor may be on the horizon. |
Conor McGregor returned to the win-column in spectacular fashion last weekend at UFC 246 - via a forty-second demolition of promotion veteran, Donald 'Cowboy' Cerrone. With a victory in tow, perennial lightweight contender, Justin 'The Highlight' Gaethje now believes a bout between himself and the Dublin is almost a formality.
The former WSOF lightweight best has won three in a row over the last since his April 2018 defeat to Dustin Poirier - handing knockout defeats to James Vick, Edson Barboza, and the aforementioned Donald Cerrone. The Arizonian has campaigned tirelessly for a shot at 155-pound gold, ultimately to no avail off the back of his impressive streak.
Gaethje has also been summoned to a face-to-face meeting with UFC president, Dana White, in the coming weeks to discuss his next step with the promotion. With Gaethje calling for a match up with McGregor in the near future, these claims follow coach John Kavanagh's hope for a meeting between 'The Notorious' one and Gaethje in a lightweight title-eliminator - contested at 170 pounds. Speaking on a recent episode the Punchline Podcast, Gaethje spoke of the UFC 246 main event between McGregor and Cerrone, and how Saturday's victory for the Dubliner will aid his cause for a meeting before the summer.
"Ultimately, that dude (Conor McGregor) makes his own decisions, and I think he has more confidence now. He needed a win," Gaethje said. "So yeah, I think he'll fight me now. I'm not necessarily being overlooked. I'm in the conversation. I lost two times not that long ago (to Dustin Poirier and Eddie Alvarez), and unfortunately that set me back and that allows these people to have an argument or a case when it comes to the argument or it comes to this circumstance. So, it does suck to compete as hard as I do and to put as much as I do into it and to maybe have the situation come along where I do get passed over because of money or politics. But, at the end of the day, if you do keep winning, I'm gonna fight again and if I win, if I knock somebody out again, they can't deny me."
For Gaethje, it seems the possibility of a matchup against McGregor may be a likely scenario. Before his forty-second victory over 'Cowboy' at UFC 246 - McGregor mentioned to Oscar Willis in an interview with The Mac Life, that he may make a "quick turnaround" and fight Gaethje before the summer. A timeline for the potential bout is likely falling somewhere before the summer - with McGregor planning a "season" spanning three Octagon walks, at least. A March date has been floated around by the 31-year-old Crumlin born counter-striker before and after his win over 'Cowboy' Cerrone - which would end a six-month break for Gaethje.
The Trevor Wittman trained knockout-artist also spoke of his decision against attending UFC 246 on Saturday previous, unlike both Jorge Masvidal and Kamaru Usman - and how the failure to do so may cost him a potential pairing in the long run.
"Ultimately, I think it could hurt me in the long run, just not wanting to take that route. I could have been there. I could have been front row. I could have made a scene, but I don't know. And, maybe I'll miss an opportunity because I wasn't there."
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