Justin Gaethje vows to end Conor McGregor’s career ahead of UFC title shot

Gaethje will face UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira at UFC 274 this weekend – and would be ready to defend his belt against McGregor

Video is loading

Video not available

The video will start playing automatically soon8thCancel

Play Now

Cian Cowley discusses Conor McGregor’s first spar back

Justin Gaethje would be ready to defend his UFC title against Conor McGregor – so he can end the Irishman’s career.

Gaethje takes on lightweight champion Charles Oliveira this weekend at UFC 274 as he attempts to win the belt second time around. The American was previously smothered by Khabib Nurmagomedov in the Russian’s farewell fight.

Gaethje and McGregor have long been rivals without clashing in the cage but that could change later this year. “The best part is when you’re the champion, the target is on your back,” Gaethje said on The Full Send podcast. “I won’t look back. At the end of the day I will be the champion and whoever is next will be next. I just need to keep preparing, keep eating right, keep isolating myself, take away all the distractions.

“At the end of the day, after I win that fight, two people are next in line. There’s Beneil Dariush and [Islam] Makhachev, and they have to fight each other. And if Conor McGregor is there, I think he’s just as available as the other two because they have to fight.

“So I say either everyone deserves it or nobody deserves it. Someone has to stand out. And yes, whoever. I want this opportunity to remove him from the sport forever.”

Does Conor McGregor deserve a title shot? Let us know in the comment section below

McGregor has not fought since he was beaten by Dustin Poirier for a second time last summer. The Irishman is recovering from a broken leg sustained in the first-round defeat and is not expected to return until August at the earliest.

He has also insisted he will return to welterweight and that his 155-pound days are behind him. McGregor is looking to take on 170-pound champion Kamaru Usman but the Nigerian is set to defend his belt against Birmingham’s Leon Edwards this summer.