Justin Gaethje is making it known who and which fight he wants next. Always one to run straight into the fire, Gaethje told TMZ earlier this week he is hoping to get a crack at Conor McGregor next — even if he has to travel to Ireland to do it.
“There are so many [potential] fights right now, but Conor sounds like he’s coming back, so I’m the man,” Gaethje said in an interview with TMZ. “If he’s going to fight someone it has to be me.”
“Tony [Ferguson] is there but he’s gotta go back and get better. That leaves Conor and me.”
“It’s the name of the game. I want to fight him in Ireland, though I know it’s not going to happen in Ireland. That’s my dream to go over there and be in that sort of chaos. That’s what fucking wakes me up every day.”
Despite having the better wrestling credentials, Gaethje says he would have no intention of trying to drag the fight to the ground.
“I’m going to go out there and stand,” Gaethje said. “And I’m going to knock him out. If he wants to retire I can help him on his way out.
I wouldn’t be counting on using my wrestling. I just gotta touch him once. Both of us have the skill where we just got to touch you one time. Who fucking knows? This is a crazy sport. [I’ll] go in there and roll those dice. That kind of chaos, I want that in my life.”
While Gaethje knows his own interest exists, he’s unsure of that of “The Notorious One”.
“He’s a warrior,” Gaethje said. “I know that it’ll intrigue him for sure. But he might just be like, ‘No thank you.’ He can’t take my leg kicks. If I wanted to wrestle him, I could wrestle him all day — and I can knock him out.
“The last thing he needs to be is on his back, reaching for the sky.”
The full video of Justin Gaethje’s interview with TMZ can be seen below: