Justin Gaethje’s name has been linked to Conor McGregor for a possible fight in the Octagon for years.
But even after Gaethje defeated Dustin Poirier last month, only to be subjected to another call out from McGregor, the newly-crowned BMF champion isn’t holding his breath for a fight with “Notorious” to ever come to fruition.
“I definitely have no worries or issues. I’m not worried about it,” Gaethje told ESPN MMA’s Brett Okamoto in an interview posted Tuesday. “If for some reason, I get a phone call one day and they want to talk about it, I’ll entertain the conversation. But … my focus is on the winner of October.”
By that, Gaethje is referring to Islam Makhachev defending his lightweight world championship against Charles Oliveira at UFC 294 on October 21, marking a rematch from when Makhachev defeated the Brazilian by second-round submission (arm-triangle choke) last October.
Gaethje used that upcoming matchup to deliver another slow, stinging burn to McGregor, before banishing the thought that they could ever fight.
“You know, those guys are fighters, those guys are athletes, I know that they’re going to fight,” Gaethje said of Makhachev and Oliveira. “I know that they still want to fight and we don’t know anything about that when it comes to Conor, so in my mind it will never happen and if for some reason it does then I guess that will be cool.
“But I’m definitely not worried about that right now.”
Gaethje is currently ranked second at lightweight behind only Oliveira, looking up at the champ Makhachev.
In May 2022, Gaethje suffered a first-round submission (rear-naked choke) to Oliveira, before bouncing back with two straight wins including the second-round KO (head kick) of Poirier.
Meanwhile, McGregor hasn’t fought since breaking his leg in his trilogy fight with Poirier in July 2021.