The situation surrounding Conor McGregor, the UFC superstar of the last decade, and Justin Gaethje, one of the best lightweights of all time and a brand new BMF belt holder, is more than a back-and-forth of insults and bombastic statements.
The two superstars have gone from insulting each other in every possible way to being at the point of discussing a possible blockbuster bout.
Gaethje surprised many with his statements after his BMF win, when he called on McGregor to sign a contract.
He went from saying “I don’t fight someone on steroids” to strongly hinting that the UFC wanted to match them up.
The Irishman was quick to throw out a “signed” response. So, do we have a fight?
Is a Conor McGregor vs Justin Gaethje fight possible?
There are arguments on both sides to the potential fight. Firstly, a fight feels more complicated because of the current schedule configuration of the two stars.
Gaethje earned a title shot at lightweight after knocking out Poirier at UFC 291. First, he must await the winner in the rematch between 155-pound monarch Islam Makhachev and Charles Oliveira in Abu Dhabi. If the Brazilian wins, a trilogy would come into play.
Gaethje is next, no doubt about it. But if he has to wait for one or two more chapters between Dagestani and Paulista, the wait could be extended until almost the middle of 2024.
That’s a long time for the American to wait without a fight, which increases his chances of facing McGregor.
Doubts over Conor McGregor
Meanwhile, ‘The Notorious’ is engulfed in a sea of doubts. His fight against Michael Chandler was agreed at the end of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’.
That was expected to be the last fight of 2023, but with McGregor not entering the USADA anti-doping protocols in time, it had to wait.
However, McGregor may yet receive an exception because of his status as one of the sport’s greats.
In Chandler‘s mind, he still has a fight with McGregor, no matter how much buzz surrounds a possible fight with Gaethje.
“All I know is I’m controlling the controllable and, either way, I’m gonna keep on moving forward, and I do believe I fight Conor within the next six months, and it’s going to be one of the biggest pay-per-views that we have ever seen, and I’m gonna go out there and knock him out within the first two rounds,” Chandler said recently.
For UFC, two superstars of the company want to fight, as they have already made clear. One is the legend in comeback mode, and the other is a championship contender who starts as top favorite after McGregor‘s two losses to Poirier and his disappearance from the octagon for many months. McGregor vs Gaethje is loading…