Justin Gaethje Says Conor McGregor Won’t “Reply to Me”, Despite Trying “Reverse Psychology”

Although Justin Gaethje has been pushing for a fight with Conor McGregor for quite a while now, to no avail, the lightweight contender continues to call out the controversial star. In fact, Gaethje claims that he even went the polite, friendly route a little while back, with the hopes of getting McGregor to scrap.

Speculation regarding McGregor’s next fight

Ever since McGregor was tapped out by Khabib Nurmagomedov last October at UFC 229, talk about when and who he will fight next has never gone away. McGregor has repeatedly pushed for an immediate rematch with Nurmagomedov, but the lightweight champ has consistently shot that idea down. Nurmagomedov’s argument being that McGregor doesn’t deserve one, since he hasn’t won a fight since 2016.

McGregor has also said he’d fight other top tier fighters, like Tony Ferguson, Donald Cerrone and Frankie Edgar. He’s also said a bout with Gaethje was being discussed last year, before he injured his hand.

Gaethje’s latest comments

Well, as we approach mid-October, it’s still not clear if and when McGregor will fight next. Gaethje recently appeared on TMZ, alongside his manager Ali Abdelaziz and both Kamaru Usman and Henry Cejudo.

While talking about his desire to face McGregor, Gaethje reported this (quotes via BJ Penn.com):

“He keeps tweeting he’s going to fight. On planet Earth there are two people who could possibly fight him. Me or Dustin Poirier,” Gaethje said. “He’s only fought two times in the lightweight division in his whole career. He’s fought two times, he lost one and won one. He’s ranked No. 3 for some odd reason. He needs to either go away or fight. I think it’s either me or Dustin.”

“He replied to Dustin on social media. He will not reply to me,” Gaethje said. “I wrote him a message ago seven months ago just trying to be his friend. I’m trying every route. I’m trying reverse psychology. I’m trying to be his friend. I’m trying every f*cking route there is to draw this man out and I can’t draw him out. He’s calling out Frankie Edgar. It’s a slap in the face to me, all the other lightweights and to the standard we do here.”

There’s certainly a tonne of fans who would love to see Gaethje and McGregor throw down. Abdelaziz also claimed in the segment that the UFC wants that match-up, but, the manager claimed McGregor is “scared”.

Could it be that McGregor isn’t confident in his abilities to beat Gaethje? It’s possible. But it’s also possible that financial negotiations are holding up the contest.

The 30-year-old Gaethje is coming off consecutive, stoppage wins over James Vick, Edson Barboza and Donald Cerrone.