Conor McGregor would love to see Justin Gaethje trade in his four-ounce gloves for a pair of hand wraps.
In April, the Irish megastar shocked everyone when he revealed that he was now a part owner of Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship, one of the fastest-growing brands in all of combat sports. Bringing his name to the bustling world of bare knuckle boxing, there’s no telling what could happen or who could show up inside the squared circle.
During a recent interview with TheMACLife ahead of his highly anticipated return to the Octagon at UFC 303 on June 29, the former two-division champion suggested that the BKFC could give new life to MMA fighters looking for a change of pace.
Conor McGregor would rather see fighters go to BKFC than another MMA promotion
During the conversation, ‘Mystic Mac’ suggested that a move from the cage to the ring for former BMF titleholder Justin Gaethje would be a very exciting sight to see.
“We’ve seen former UFC champions or UFC veterans move to other mixed martial arts promotions,” McGregor said. “We’ve seen them fight MMA all their career and now they still fight MMA. It doesn’t pop for me. Now let’s take Justin Gaethje, who is a UFC veteran, former BMF holder, interim belt holder — take him, let’s put him in bare knuckle. That’s exciting. That’s really, really exciting.
“Now let’s take him and put him in another MMA organization, not so [exciting].”
From the start, the BKFC has bolstered its name on the back of current and former MMA stars including Luke Rockhold, Chad Mendes, Eddie Alvarez, Thiago Alves, Michael ‘Venom’ Page, and, of course, its biggest name of all, ‘Platinum’ Mike Perry.
It looks as though another former UFC champion could be toeing the line before long.
Hall of Famer ‘Ruthless’ Robbie Lawler was recently spotted alongside BKFC founder and president David Feldman, leading to immediate speculation that the ex-welterweight champion could be knuckling up against the likes of Mike Perry before long.