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UFC News: Conor McGregor Tries to Start a Beef With Justin Gaethje as Irishman Takes Shots at BMF Champ’s Fighting Skills

Published 03/23/2024, 11:48 PM EDT

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Conor McGregor has fired shots at Justin Gaethje! The ‘BMF’ title holder is currently gearing up to face Max Holloway at UFC 300 for a highly anticipated clash at the historic event. While the fans are excited about the matchup, UFC lightweight champion, Islam Makhachev, recently made some harsh criticisms of the bout during an interview with MMA Junkie as he stated, “…this is a useless fight for a useless belt.”

Nevertheless, the fight still draws a lot of eyeballs and in a recent post on Instagram, ESPN MMA shared a highlight reel of Gaethje’s past fights. And the post also drew an interesting comment from Conor McGregor, who took a dig at Gaethje.

Conor McGregor doesn’t think Justin Gaethje is on his level

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In the post shared on Instagram by the ESPN MMA account, Justin Gaethje is quoted as saying, “I’m the best at creating damage.” The video also contains evidence supporting his statement. His finishes against Dustin Poirier, Tony Ferguson, and his impressive win against Rafael Fiziev demonstrated this claim.

The post was captioned, “Justin Gaethje is a pure fighter”, but Conor McGregor did not reciprocate the sentiment. ‘The Notorious’ took to the comments section and stated, “I’m way better”, indicating that he remains supremely confident in his abilities.

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His comments are interesting as McGregor has been out of competition since breaking his leg in a fight against Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 in 2021. The Irishman’s most recent win in the Octagon dates back to 2020 against Donald Cerrone at UFC 246.

 

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On the other hand, Gaethje knocked out Poirier via a devastating head kick at UFC 291 in 2023. He also secured the BMF title in the fight. Before that fight, he had also shut down the dangerous Rafael Fiziev with a majority decision in their clash at UFC 286, in 2023.

McGregor’s confidence notwithstanding, Gaethje’s recent track record suggests that he possesses the skills and capabilities to challenge the former lightweight champion’s assertion of superiority in the Octagon. But the former ‘champ-champ’ had reached a peak in his career that is hard to deny for anyone. And the only way to possibly settle the debate may just be a clash inside the cage between the two elite fighters!

Nevertheless, the list of adversaries that want to declare war against McGregor continues to grow. The Irishman has found himself being challenged by Jake Paul over his comments about the upcoming bout between Paul and Mike Tyson.

‘The Notorious’ gets a bold response from Jake Paul over criticism of Mike Tyson fight

Jake Paul is getting ready to take on Mike Tyson for their upcoming boxing clash. However, he recently took the time out to slam Conor McGregor for his criticism of the bout. The Irishman had raised some concerns about the bout as he claimed the fight was “strange” and expressed doubts about its popularity.

As such, speaking on an episode of the BS with Jake Paul podcast, the social media star turned boxer stated, “So, Conor, you’re saying that interest is low for the fight but the last fight you announced, there was 1,000 articles written in a multiple-day span, people talking about your last fight. In that same multiple-day span, there was 10,000 articles written about (Paul vs. Tyson)”

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He also argued that the fight is beneficial for boxing as it will attract new fans and bridge generational gaps. Paul also claimed, “When the old heads like Conor are still like trying to hate, why are you trying to pull people down? Your ego is that (big)?”

However, it’s not just Conor McGregor who has an issue with the fight, as many fans and experts have also questioned the matchup’s logic, with Tyson’s age and legendary status contrasting with Paul’s YouTube origins and relative inexperience in boxing.

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What do you think about Conor McGregor’s claims that he is better than Justin Gaethje? And do you agree with ‘The Notorious’ on his statement about the Paul vs Tyson bout? Share your thoughts in the comments below! 

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Written by:

Dushyant Patni

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Dushyant Patni is a UFC writer at EssentiallySports. Dushyant brings 8 years of professional writing experience to his coverage of MMA at ES. This literature graduate excels in the coverage of both MMA-related and off-topic subjects.
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Edited by:

Amal Joyce