Justin Gaethje slams Conor McGregor; open to fighting Nate Diaz

[ASFN Admin]

After letting the smoke clear from UFC 257, number two ranked lightweight Justin Gaethje recently shared his thoughts on the current state of the lightweight division and his thoughts on seeing Conor McGregor getting taken out. In an interview with ESPN MMA, Gaethje wasted no time dropping his two cents on number six ranked lightweight McGregor getting TKO’d for the first time in his career by number one contender Dustin Poirier. “I love seeing a loudmouth kid get knocked out; there’s nothing that makes me happier,” Gaethje said. “Seeing a piece of s--t get put down, that was great. I loved it.” Before locking onto the next lightweight contender, Gaethje also made a threat should the UFC make the potential trilogy match between Poirier and McGregor for the undisputed lightweight title. “I will never fight for the UFC again,” Gaethje said. “I would probably really think about never fighting for the UFC if he fights for a title again. That would be preposterous.” Justin Gaethje targets next UFC opponent Gaethje then turned his attention to the winner of the UFC 257 main event and current number one contender in the lightweight division, Dustin Poirier. “I’d rather fight Dustin Poirier [instead of McGregor], absolutely,” Gaethje said. “That’s the best man in the division right now if Khabib was retired.” Gaethje was also receptive to the idea of fighting one of the biggest stars in the UFC, Nate Diaz. There has been some speculation by pundits and other fighters that Diaz will make a return to lightweight. His last fight in the division was a unanimous decision victory over Michael Johnson in December of 2015. “If they call me to fight Nate Diaz, I’m fighting Nate Diaz,” Gaethje said. “I will roll him up and smoke him like a blunt.” Gaethje also acknowledged his openness to bouts against number three ranked lightweight contender Charles Oliveira and number four ranked Michael Chandler. “I wanna fight for a title,” Gaethje said. “Poirier, McGregor, Diaz, Chandler, Oliveira at the end.” Rationalizing his decision to put “Do Bronx” at the end of his list, Gaethje conceded Oliveira’s threat from a match-up standpoint. “I mean, Oliveira’s the toughest match-up in the division,” Gaethje said. “He brings a very particular set of skills. But Paul Felder knocked him out, he doesn’t like getting hit, and I hit like a truck.” Whoever is up next for “The Highlight” in the top five of the UFC’s most stacked division, Gaethje is game. TRENDING > Dustin Poirier’s KO of Conor McGregor one of top selling UFC PPVs of all time UFC 257 recap & highlights: Dustin Poirier KOs Conor McGregor (Subscribe to MMAWeekly.com on YouTube)

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