Justin Gaethje: I Want to Shut Conor Up

Your split second timing and counter shots with Tony was pretty spectacular. Second to none. No one will beat me. Conor McGregor is going to be a fucking race. We're talking about milliseconds here. And that's the race that we'll have. Is that a fight you're looking forward to? I do. I want to shut him up. I would love that. I really would. Do you think that's a possible fight? I could fight him right now if I wanted to. You think so? And everyone is going to say that I'm lying and if it was there I would take it. You know, Daniel Cormier said that the other day. I'm not that fighter. For one, I have an opportunity to do something that can be unmatched in the history of our sport. To go in there, to come off the circumstances, to beat Tony like I did. Go beat Habib. Go beat Conor. That's legendary. So that's what you want to do. You want to beat Khabib and then fight Conor. But when you said you could fight Conor right now, why are you saying that? Well, he's calling me out. But is he really? Because he's saying something about Uso-Mon too. Well... And I know that's not real. He doesn't want that. I think he would take the fight. With Uso-Mon or you? With me. He wants to fight Habib. But I'm the only way you have to go. You have to go... If he could have gone... When he picked Cowboy, he could have gone through me. He could have gone through me. There's no... You know, if you're a fan of the sport... But don't you think he matches up way better with Cowboy? Well, that doesn't matter. That's irrelevant. But I think it is for him. I think to make a spectacular performance, I think he felt like he matched up. I think it was smart. Yeah. But now you're going to call for a title shot? No. Like, I'm in a great position because... For one, I get to fight for a title. There's 500 some odd people on this roster. Every single one of them would want to be in my position right now. But I also have the ability to bring some kind of... I always draw a bling when it comes to this word, but a rhyme or a reason. A way. A way to a title shot. For young guys that come in, they think politics run the show. They ultimately do, but there is a small chance that you get a say in your destiny and eliminate politics. And that's what I just did. Politics were going to fuck me. I wasn't going to get the fight. Connor was going to somehow or someway get that fight. And now I got the chance to go out there and I did what I did. Well, just through the virtue of your performances, you become incredibly popular. And that's enough. That's enough. It's popularity is everything. I mean, this is a weird game. You have to win. You have to win. But it's also the way you win. And also, when you winning the way you did in Florida when there was nothing else going on in the world, there's no live sports. And so you winning the way you did and doing it in such spectacular fashion against a hugely respected guy like Tony Ferguson, that makes you undeniable. And when you're undeniable, weird things happen. Timing is everything. Doors get opened. Timing is everything. It was a perfect time. It was. You know, destiny, whatever it is, I don't put anything into any of those things. I just do what I can do today. But, you know, timing is everything. And it feels like that was part of my destiny to have the opportunity at that time under these circumstances. Well, it certainly is a magical storyline. If you were writing a movie, I mean, that would be the best way to win. But when I go beat Habib and then I beat Connor, what run in the history of this sport has been better? Coming off two losses, getting counted out. You know, that's what I'm here for. That I can inspire the world. Now, do they have anything lined up for Connor now? Because Connor keeps talking like something's happening. He's no back and forth from the boxing to the MMA that it's again, it's... Right. He keeps talking about fighting Floyd again. He's trying to talk people into that he's the number one. I would say he said he was going to come back and do the season. If you had to put an argument for yourself, you're not that man. Where's the season? Like he talked about doing the season. And don't get me wrong, I respect the shit out of him. He can fight his ass off. But he was like, I'm going to do a season. I'm going to have three fights in three months or whatever he had said. And the whole thing is, is people stop listening when you're not sticking to your word. And if you're going to fight, fight, stay relevant, pick away class. Be just consistent as you are when you fight because he's super consistent when he fights. I said... I said in an interview that he was losing clout among fighters and in the game. Dana White's laughing at him. A reporter asked him, he said Connor says he's fighting Justin next. Dana laughs. That's all the proof you need right there. That's your losing respect. So he has to go and fight. He has to kind of earn a position. I mean, beating Cowboys nice, but he's got to kind of get another win. 100%. Something else has got to happen to really sell the public on. 100%. You can sell a certain percentage of the public based on his name. And it was at 170. I mean, there's the consistency. I look at it from a consistently standpoint. It's like, what weight class are you going to go in? I feel if he was fighting at 145, he's very unstoppable. I feel like that's the weight class for him. But him changing weight, if I was a coach with him, I'd be like, hey, man, pick a weight class. Be consistent. He's so big for 145. I know. But again, he came from those weight classes. He's getting up to stronger dudes. Yes. Like his speed is key. And when you go up bigger weight classes, you start to lose your speed. Well, that's why the Usman fight I thought was so ridiculous. When I saw them, Usman was posting photos of that. I'm like, that is so crazy. Usman is enormous. And he's so powerful. I was born with him for this camp. He's a big dude. Yeah. He's a big guy. He's a big guy. He's strong as fuck. Like when Usman gets ahold of guys, he drags him to the ground. He's an incredible wrestler in his mind, too. His mind is very, very powerful. So when I was looking at that, I was like, wow, is that really happening? Totally. But it's not. Yeah, that fight's not happening. I didn't even text to Dana about that one. I'm like, come on, man. I didn't know nothing about that. I didn't really have a man working on this stuff. So that's when Connor's talking about 70. After he fought Cowboy, he was like, I feel so good at 170. I'm like, dude. OK. It's all show. Yeah. I think he really did feel good. Well, of course, because you have to cut away. But he was fighting a guy who was not a real 170. He fought a 55er. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. So your ultimate goal is to do that, to beat Connor. And then what do you do? Do you have a long time? Try a Poirier. Poirier. And then get the fuck out of here. And that's it. That's all I need. Wow. What do I need after that? Yeah. That would be legendary. I'd make plenty of money, which is ultimately what I'm here to do. And I took control of my destiny, which is all I asked for. Yeah, so it's good. You know, business wise, the smart move could be, you know, right now to fight Connor. Because obviously that's a lot of money. I think you have more leverage beating Khabib. But I make way more money. And you make a lot more money. More money when I beat Khabib and then fight. Yeah. And if Connor's not there, I'll fight Poirier. He doesn't, he's not on my list. Connor's not necessarily, Khabib and Poirier are the two on my list right now. If I fight them two with big paydays, then I'm good.