02 August 2023 , 14:07
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Fans don't believe Conor McGregor has signed a fight contract after the UFC star traded words with Justin Gaethje.
McGregor was watching closely this past weekend when Gaethje won the symbolic 'BMF' belt by knocking out Dustin Poirier in their UFC 291 rematch. The former two-weight champion tweeted after the fight "I KO him [Gaethje] one shot. Guarantee it." Gaethje refused to give McGregor's call-out attention when speaking to media after the event, but later changed his tune on Twitter.
"Sign the contract big boy," Gaethje responded to McGregor, which prompted him to post an autographed photo with the caption: "Signed". A small minority of fans believe McGregor has now backtracked on his decision to fight Michael Chandler whilst the majority feel there is no way the Irishman will face Gaethje.
"You guys thinking he’s fighting Gaethje, he's spent the past six months dancing around and avoiding the fight with Chandler he ain’t gonna fight Gaethje," one comment read. "He's getting my hopes up for nothing once more," another user added. "Yeah he ain’t signing against Justin, talk is all it is now unfortunately," a third user put. "He was talking about Chandler for months and now this out of nowhere, no way he gonna fight Gaethje before end of year for sure," a final user added.
McGregor hasn't fought since breaking his leg against Poirier in their trilogy fight two years ago, but is expected to make his UFC return against Chandler at the end of the year after coaching against his rival on The Ultimate Fighter. The fight is still being targeted for UFC 296 on December 16, but this date could be pushed back until next year because McGregor is yet to re-enrol in the USADA testing pool.
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Gaethje claimed McGregor has previously turned down six fights against him as he isn't thinking about a big-money bout against the Irishman. Gaethje is more interested in fighting for the UFC lightweight title after previously missing out on the belt twice in his title fights against Khabib Nurmagomemdov and Charles Oliveira in his past title fights.
“I think he’s turned me down six times and usually you have to lose to fight him, so I don’t know what’s going on," Gaethje said of potentially facing McGregor. "I don't know but I don't really care. I fight MMA for big fights and I like exciting fights, so it sounds pretty exciting to me."