Justin Gaethje believes that Conor McGregor will come out of retirement to face him and he'll take the Irishman deep into the fight and unleash 'hell' on him.
The American became interim UFC lightweight champions at UFC 249 when he stood in for Khabib Nurmagomedov to take on Tony Ferguson, winning the fight with a fifth round stoppage.
That win has set up an unification fight against Khabib, with the pair expected to meet later this year, whilst McGregor, who might have been the stand in for Nurmagomedov, has once again retired from UFC.
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Gaethje thinks the Notorious will be back to face him and has explained how he thinks he'll beat the former two weight champion. "Distance control is the No. 1 factor in any fight," the American told ESPN, "It's established in the first 30 seconds. It's not visible, but it's established, and that would be a huge factor in our fight.
"Who can control the distance? I think the best thing about me is I can kick the sh*t out of people, so when they are trying to control distance or maybe they are winning at that, I can kick them in the leg and try to reset that. So I think I would knock him out to be honest.
"I think he's got about three rounds, and then it's hell, and he doesn't want to go to hell, so I think he's good for now."
McGregor's fiercest and nastiest rivalry with was of course with Khabib, and the Russian has taken his own shots at the former champ since his latest retirement.
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The current lightweight champion also took the time to rub more salt in the wound by liking Gaethje's quote about taking McGregor to hell on Instagram.
Speaking about what he thinks McGregor might do next, Gaethje added, "I think he should wait for the winner of me and Khabib.
"If I win, I think he definitely comes back. If Khabib wins, I don't know. I'm not sure about that. (Conor's) a legend, man. What he did was legendary status. I'll never take that away from him. He deserves credit. He's accomplished so much in this sport.
"What every fighter wants to attain, he accomplished, so hats off to him. I can't wait to punch him in the face."
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McGregor predicted that Khabib vs Ferguson wouldn't happen back in January and he's made the same prediction for the Gaethje fight, whilst saying the lack of action in the sport is the reason for his retirement, claiming it no longer 'excites him.'
A chance to win back the title might change all that.
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