Esther Lin, MMA Fighting
Conor McGregor was nowhere near Vancouver for UFC Fight Night 158, but once again he’s managed to steal the spotlight.
The main event of the night saw Justin Gaethje take out Donald Cerrone in the first round with a series of heavy shots that eventually felled “Cowboy” (watch the highlights here). After the win, Daniel Cormier asked Gaethje whether he wanted McGregor next and “The Highlight” was initially dismissive.
“The Irishman’s retired,” Gaethje said. “I want a real fighter. I want the winner of Tony and Khabib.”
As if to remind everyone that he was still around, McGregor posted up this captionless photo on Twitter showing him in his biking gear:
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) September 15, 2019
After being shown the tweet on the ESPN+ post-fight show, Justin clarified that he’d happily take a McGregor fight if it was offered.
”He looks tough, he looks really tough right there,” Gaethje said sarcastically. “If he’s going to fight I definitely want to fight him. He punched an old man in the face. I want to f**k him up for that.”
Gaethje and McGregor reportedly came close to signing a fight over the summer, but an injury to McGregor’s hand derailed the whole thing. Since then Gaethje has been putting McGregor on blast in interviews and social media posts, calling Conor a “s**t human, father, and husband.”
Whether those comments and his knockout wins over James Vick, Edson Barbosa, and now Donald Cerrone are enough to draw McGregor into a fight with Gaethje remains to be seen. As it stands, the Irish superstar may find himself jumping right back into a lightweight title shot should the UFC be unable to make a deal with Tony Ferguson to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov. Which seems absolutely crazy to us, but just goes to show you how Cash Rules Everything Around Me in the UFC these days.