Conor McGregor recently announced his third retirement from the UFC in the last four years, and fans are pretty skeptical of it all. In fact, some think he is simply using this as a negotiating tactic so that he can come back and get a title fight with either Justin Gaethje or Khabib Nurmagomedov. Well, according to Gaethje and Khabib’s manager Ali Abdelaziz, Conor can think again.

While speaking to TMZ, Abdelaziz referred to McGregor as a “prostitute” who is constantly seeking attention from the higher-ups at the UFC. He also went on to say that McGregor has to get some fights in before getting a shot at the belt. Abdelaziz even referenced Tony Ferguson who Gaethje recently defeated.

Justin Gaethje has been having himself an eventful few weeks thanks to his recent win against Tony Ferguson at UFC 249. Not many people expected him to come away with a victory in the fight but he was able to pull it off, regardless. Now, Gaethje will get to fight against the likes of Khabib Nurmagomedov for a title, although Conor McGregor would have you believe Gaethje should fight him first.

During a recent appearance on Joe Rogan’s MMA Show, Gaethje addressed Conor McGregor and sent some shots his way. As Gaethje explained, he wants to take care of Khabib first and has no problems fighting McGregor in the future. In fact, Gaethje thinks he has the opportunity to do something legendary.

“That’s second to none, no one will beat me. Conor McGregor, its gonna be a f**king race. We’re talking about milliseconds here and that’s the race that we’ll have,” Gaethje said. “I can fight him right now if I wanted to and everyone would say that I am lying and if it was there, I would take it and Daniel Cormier said that the other day. I’m not that fighter. For one, I have the opportunity to do something that can be unmatched in the history of our sport. To go in there, to come of the circumstances. To beat Tony like I did, go beat Khabib, go beat Conor, that’s legendary.”

Defeating Khabib will be no small task so before he even thinks about Conor, he will have to make sure he can get himself a title.

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Justin Gaethje recently shocked the MMA world as he defeated Tony Ferguson at UFC 249. It was believed that Ferguson would easily win the fight and that he would go on to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov for the title. Well, the plans have completely changed and now, Gaethje is in the driver’s seat.

Over the last week, Conor McGregor has been harassing Gaethje for a fight but as he explained to TMZ, he is only looking to fight Khabib right now. However, Gaethje noted that he would like to fight McGregor and that it’s cool to see the Irishman beg him for a fight as opposed to the other way around.

Cleary, Gaethje is just grateful to be in this position right now. However, he would be an underdog against Khabib so there is a whole lot of training ahead of him.

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Conor McGregor loves to talk a big game on Twitter and his latest target has been none other than Justin Gaethje who recently defeated Tony Ferguson at UFC 249. Gaethje is supposed to get an opportunity to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov but McGregor wants a shot at Gaethje first. Of course, this is only because he wants a quicker path to a rematch with Khabib.

During a recent interview with TMZ, Gaethje and Khabib’s manager Ali Abdelaziz spoke about McGregor’s recent comments and was quite critical of the Irishman, noting that there was no way he would be getting a fight with either man and that he has completely missed out on his chance.

“Khabib will never — NEVER — pass Justin Gaethje for Conor. Even if he made more money,” Ali said. “Justin Gaethje has so much integrity, he will never tell the UFC, ‘Oh, I’m gonna fight Conor, forget about Khabib.’ [Justin] wants to be a champion.”

Abdelaziz also noted that the winner of the fight between Gaethje and Khabib would not be fighting McGregor. The UFC manager is staying firm on the notion that McGregor needs more wins under his belt and that he is undeserving of a title shot.

At this point, it truly remains to be seen as to who McGregor will get to fight next.

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Conor McGregor is easily one of the most outspoken athletes in the entire UFC and recently, he went on an extended rant on Twitter about Khabib Nurmagomedov and Justin Gaethje. For some backstory, Gaethje has been clamoring for a McGregor fight for years although Conor has refused to acknowledge him. Over the weekend, Gaethje defeated Tony Ferguson and will now get a shot at the title against Khabib. This has angered McGregor who has wanted a rematch with the Dagestanian for the last two years.

In his rant, McGregor promises that Khabib will chicken out of his fight with Gaethje and that the American will end up fighting Conor at a date to be determined. In fact, McGregor is now sending some threats Gaethje's way, noting that he will absolutely destroy the most recent UFC 249 winner. McGregor even seems to be holding a grudge from the time Gaethje told him he was a bad dad.

UFC 249 was supposed to be quick work for Tony Ferguson who was slated to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov for the title, instead. Due to the Coronavirus, Khabib was unable to partake in the event and he got to up against Justin Gaethje. Not many pundits were giving Gaethje much of a chance but in the end, he came through with a fifth-round TKO after landing multiple headshots on Ferguson. As you can imagine, Gaethje was absolutely ecstatic about the win while Ferguson was distraught.

In the clip below, you can see how the closing moments of the fight played out. Clearly, Ferguson was getting gassed and dizzy at the end, which allowed Gaethje to take advantage and finish off the fight, once and for all.

Dana White has been gearing up for a huge event this Saturday that is sure to get all of us in the sports mood. The UFC is finally giving us some athletics to watch in the form of UFC 249 and the big fight is going to be Tony Ferguson against Justin Gaethje. Ferguson was originally supposed to go up against the likes of Khabib Nurmagomedov but due to travel restrictions in Russia, Khabib is being forced to stay home.

This unfortunate fact of life has led to a lot of criticism and debate, especially amongst those fighting on Saturday. Now, White is speaking out about Khabib and on First Take today, he revealed who the Dagestanian would fight next. As White explains in the clip below, Khabib is ready to fight and that his next bout would most likely be against the winner of the match between Gaethje and Ferguson.

Khabib Nurmagomedov was supposed to defend his belt against Tony Ferguson at UFC 249 but that is no longer happening because Khabib is stuck in Russie amidst the Coronavirus pandemic. Russia is one of the hardest-hit countries in the world right now and travel restrictions have made it impossible for Nurmagomedov to fight right now. Instead, Ferguson will be fighting Justin Gaethje this Saturday, although fans are still disappointed that Khabib won't make it.

Ferguson has been quite harsh on Khabib, saying he purposely went to Russie, knowing it would eventually close before the fight. During today's episode of First Take, Ferguson reiterated his distaste for Khabib and noted that the UFC fighter doesn't exist to him anymore. Ferguson also thinks Khabib should just relinquish his belt and retire from the sport completely. 

Due to the Coronavirus, all sports have pretty well shut down. This has been terrible for sports fans who have been desperate for a fix of their favorite athletic events. The UFC has been hit especially hard by the shut down although up until a few weeks ago, Dana White was still planning on hosting UFC 249 with the main event of Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje. Of course, ESPN and Disney eventually stepped in and told him not to go through with any of his plans due to safety concerns.

Now, White says the UFC will be back and better than ever before, in May. As he explained to ESPN's Brett Okamoto, White plans to host three UFC events between May 9th and May 16th. The preliminary fights on May 9th will be headlined by none other than Donald Cerrone and Anthony Pettis. As for the main event of Gaethje and Ferguson, White seems to have high hopes that it will be a fight to remember. 

Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov were supposed to duke it out at UFC 249 although due to the Russian border being closed, Khabib isn’t able to travel. This forced the champion to bow out of the fight, leading to the UFC’s rush for a replacement. Yesterday, it was revealed that Ferguson’s challenger would be none other than Justin Gaethje.

Following the announcement, Gaethje spoke to TMZ about agreeing to the fight and what his mindset is going into UFC 249. As he explains, he has nothing to lose and that this is his best chance at getting a shot at a championship belt. Needless to say, he is extremely motivated for this opportunity.

“Heroes live forever, legends never die and I’m literally here to make a statement. My name will be carried on far longer after I’m here because of my effort, because of my work ethic and because of the skills I possess,” Gaethje said. “There’s very few people on earth that would sign up for what me and Tony just signed up for, including most UFC fighters. A lot of guys will say that they’re ready, but a lot of guys would not put their name on the dotted line.”

Ferguson has had more time to prepare for this fight so it’s easy to see how Gaethje would be at a disadvantage. Regardless, it is surely going to be a fun fight.