UFC: Justin Gaethje Responds To Dana White’s Recent Comments
While Conor McGregor vs Donald Cerrone headlining UFC 246 promises to the start the new decade off with a bang for the promotion, there were many fans that believed Justin Gaethje was more deserving of welcoming the Irishman back to the Octagon. Many fans also believe that Gaethje has earned the next title shot in the stacked UFC lightweight division. Unfortunately for the 31 year old however, Dana White has stated that if McGregor beats ‘Cowboy’ at UFC 246, he will fight for the title next.
When speaking to TSN’s Aaron Bronsteter ahead of UFC 245, Dana stated that Gaethje knows exactly why McGregor would jump ahead of him in the line to face the winner of Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson at UFC 249, if he beats ‘Cowboy’.
“He knows what happened. Justin Gaethje knows what is going on. So listen, if I was him I would be saying the exact same thing. You know, it gets everybody talking and everything else. But Justin Gaethje knows what’s up. He knows. He knows. So for me to sit here and explain to you what, he knows exactly what happened. But if I was him, I would say the same thing. What he is doing, I would do the same thing. It is very, it is not stupid, it is smart.”
Speaking more recently to ESPN, Dana expanded on his previous comments, stating that Gaethje had turned down several fights.
“We’ve offered Gaethje a lot of fights that Gaethje hasn’t taken either. So Conor is in line next for this fight if he beats Cowboy.”
Gaethje has now responded to Dana’s comments. Speaking to MMA on SiriusXM (as transcribed by BJPenn.com), ‘The Highlight’ expressed his confusion at the UFC president’s recent remarks.
“I’ve been trying to figure out what he is talking about. I know when he did the interview not too long ago he kept saying Justin Gaethje knows what I’m talking about and what’s going on and he knows whats happening. I literally had no idea what he was talking about. It was pretty crazy.”
The former WSOF lightweight champion went on to say that although he turned down the original offer to fight Ferguson because it was on too short notice, he has since accepted to fight him. Gaethje also explained that he turned down fights with Charles Oliveira and Dan Hooker, because he was seeking a fight with either Khabib or McGregor.
“I was just thinking about it with my dad and talking about my dad and I’m pretty sure it is, they offered me Tony Ferguson, when Tony Ferguson fought ‘Cowboy’ in June. They were look for a replacement for that fight in May, at the beginning of May. I told them it wasn’t enough time but if the pushed it back a little bit farther, I would take that fight. They ended up giving ‘Cowboy’ that fight and that happened.
“They then asked if I wanted to fight Tony on the Abu Dhabi card (UFC 242), I said yes, he said no. So I took the ‘Cowboy’ fight the week after that. Then, recently, I believe he offered me Charles Oliveira in Brazil or Dan Hooker in New Zealand all while the champion didn’t have a fight and McGregor was coming back and still looking for a fight. As far as I know, that is what the deal is. I don’t know.”
Gaethje is coming off three first round finishes over James Vick, Edson Barboza and ‘Cowboy’. While McGregor is coming off his loss to Khabib at UFC 229. Cerrone will also be looking to get back to winning ways at UFC 246, coming off back-to-back losses to Ferguson and Gaethje.
Do you think Justin Gaethje deserves the next title shot?
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