Conor McGregor requests championship fight with Justin Gaethje in Twitter rant
Former UFC two-division champion Conor McGregor is attempting to book future fights while he remains sidelined from competing until the summer months amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Days after McGregor teased a bout with boxing legend Oscar De La Hoya, the outspoken Irishman challenged and blasted UFC interim lightweight champion Justin Gaethje in a lengthy and NSFW Twitter rant:
"The fans make the sport! Watching the other night, I was against going in without them. But it will be my f---ing pleasure to display the power I possess with zero background noise for them. It's me and Justin next, as Khabib is the biggest bottle fighter in the game. Guarantee it."
Gaethje defeated Tony Ferguson for the interim strap at Saturday's UFC 249 show, and it's assumed Gaethje's next fight will be against undefeated champion Khabib Nurmagomedov when Nurmagomedov is able to travel from Russia once the country lifts restrictions.
McGregor also appeared to take Twitter shots at the defeated Ferguson and Dustin Poirier:
McGregor continued:
"Justin, there is no danger in a man that hugs legs, we all know. Try and dance around what the real threat is here all you want. I am going to f---ing butcher you. Your teeth. I'm going to put them on a f---ing necklace. Speak on my skills as a father? You are f---ing dead."
As ESPN's Brett Okamoto wrote, McGregor may have been referencing when Gaethje tweeted that McGregor was a "s--- human, father and husband" last September.
McGregor also hit out at Nurmagomedov, who humbled McGregor in convincing fashion in October 2018:
McGregor was responding to Nurmagomedov's online reactions to Gaethje's victory:
As Okamoto noted, McGregor currently has no future UFC bout scheduled. Audie Attar, McGregor's manager, told ESPN's Ariel Helwani that the fighter could return to the promotion in July if he feels events occurring during the pandemic are safe.
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