It’s no secret that [autotag]Justin Gaethje[/autotag] thought he should have been the one standing across from [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag] at UFC 246.
Instead, McGregor took on Donald Cerrone, the man that Gaethje took out in one round in his last fight.
It took McGregor only 40 seconds to dispatch Cerrone and, speaking on the “Punchlines Podcast,” Gaethje (21-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC) admitted that maybe it would have helped his case if he was in attendance this past Saturday. But he explained that it’s not really his style to cause a ruckus to get a fight.
“For me, I hope knocking people out is my ‘something special,’ because I can’t sell myself, per se, and become a different person on camera and be a different person off camera,” Gaethje said. “It takes a lot of intelligence to be able to do something like that, for one. To be able to keep that act up is going to take a lot of time and energy and a lot of concentration away from what I want to do.
“I think it could hurt me in the long run, just not wanting to take that route. I could have been (at UFC 246). I could have been front row. I could have made a scene, but maybe I’ll miss an opportunity because I wasn’t there.”
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Gaethje has scored three straight first-round knockouts and finds himself in a peculiar spot. Gaethje, like many others, did not think McGregor should have been facing a Cerrone that’s coming off back-to-back stoppage losses. The fast finish for McGregor at UFC 246 may have proven that.
“I think it was an (expletive) move that he took it, and that’s just coming from a straight competitor because – he’s coming off of losses, too, and that’s his argument when you say hey you’re going to fight someone coming off losses, but he’s talking about title contender, title contention or title shots, and you can’t fight him (Cerrone).”
When Gaethje faced Cerrone, he insists it was because there was no one else available for him to fight.
“People are going to say you’re saying it was a (expletive) mov, so you’re pretty much saying you’re an (expletive) for taking that fight (Cerrone), but it was a whole set of different circumstances at that time.
“That wasn’t the case for Conor. I was there, I was ready, and I could have fought last night, and he didn’t take that, so the circumstances are different, and the argument isn’t valid.”
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The McGregor fight makes a lot of sense but, while Gaethje knows he can’t control what’s next, all he can do is keep putting on impressive showings until he can’t be denied.
He started off 1-2 in the UFC, with two straight losses in wars with Eddie Alvarez and Dustin Poirier, but a tactical adjustment paid dividends. Gaethje barely took any damage in his last three outings. Now he says he’s in the mix for those big fights at the top of his division, and even though he admitted staying home for the event may not have helped his case, he thinks McGregor is more likely to face him now that he has the Cerrone win under his belt.
“I’m not necessarily being overlooked. I’m in the conversation,” Gaethje said. “I lost two times not that long ago, and unfortunately that set me back, and that allows these people to have an argument or a case when it comes to the argument or it comes to this circumstance.
“Ultimately that dude (McGregor) makes his own decisions, and I think he has more confidence now. He needed a win. Yeah, I think he’ll fight me now.”
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