Justin Gaethje Explains Master Plan To Lure Conor McGregor Into Fight
Justin Gaethje has made it perfectly clear that he wants to fight UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor.
The problem is, everyone else in the lightweight division wants a piece of McGregor. However, unlike the other fighters who want a piece of McGregor, Gaethje has a plan for making the fight happen.
Gaethje’s plan is to score a vicious knockout of Eddie Alvarez at The Ultimate Fighter 26 Finale on Dec. 1. If he can be able to do that then he believes it will get McGregor’s attention.
For those who might not know, Gaethje and Alvarez are coaching opposite one another on this season of TUF, which has already premiered on FOX Sports 1. The latest season of the reality show will crown the UFC’s first women’s flyweight champion.
“McGregor, when he comes back, he’s gonna pick whoever he wants,” Gaethje said Wednesday at a media lunch in Century City (transcript courtesy of MMA Fighting). “As the competitor that I see him being, he’s gonna want the most dangerous guy. When I finish Eddie Alvarez quickly, that’s gonna be me.
“On paper and on TV, I’m the most dangerous, violent guy in this division. Most hittable guy. So that’s probably someone he’d want to fight. As long as I knock out Eddie Alvarez quickly, that’s my goal — to get that fight.”
It’s believed that if or when McGregor returns to the UFC, he will fight the interim champion upon his return. That will either be Tony Ferguson or Kevin Lee, who fight for that belt in the main event of UFC 216 on Oct. 7 in Las Vegas.
“[McGregor] has to come back and he’s not gonna want to fight Tony Ferguson or Kevin Lee,” Gaethje said. “Being the crazy person I am, Eddie Alvarez and Conor make me nervous and make me lose sleep at night. I don’t lose any sleep when I think about Tony Ferguson or Kevin Lee. Not saying they can’t beat me or wouldn’t beat me. They just don’t do it for me. I would want someone who did it for me. It would be Khabib [Nurmagomedov] or Conor. I would love to go to Ireland.”
“He don’t give a f*ck about his belt, which is fine,” Gaethje said of McGregor. “Whatever. I don’t know. He loves it,” Gaethje said of McGregor. “He f*cking loves it, and he’s crazy like I am about this sport. It has to do it for him. Obviously, the pay has to be big, he’s a businessman. Smart businessman. But I don’t think that Ferguson or Lee would do it for him.”
