UFC news: Justin Gaethje responds to potential Conor McGregor fight

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UFC Lightweight Champion Justin Gaethje has squared off against multiple top fighters in his entire MMA/UFC career. However, his hopes of fighting Conor McGregor in the UFC seem to be slowly fading away.

Earlier this year, McGregor made his five-year-long UFC return against Max Holloway. Following a series of controversies and injury setbacks, McGregor returned at UFC 329. However, his comeback soon ended when he suffered a brutal surgery-requiring ACL injury.

With McGregor now out injured, Gaethje’s hopes of fighting him are going away. However, the Irishman has vowed to return in 2027 and take part in his final-ever UFC fight. However, he is expected to require 12 months to recover completely, for which Gaethje is not interested in asking for the fight anymore. “If it came to my table, I would entertain it,” he recently said when asked about a potential fight with McGregor. “But I would doubt that.” He’s going through his own stuff. I don’t even want to talk s**t on that guy anymore. I’ve done it. That doesn’t work because I’ve tried.”

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Gaethje recently emerged victorious in his fight against Ilia Topuria in Jun. 2026. While still flying high from that victory, Gaethje is still facing the result of an unfortunate incident from that match. Gaethje is still not allowed to punch two months after damaging his fists on Topuria‘s face at UFC Freedom 250.

“I still can’t punch anything. Both of my hands are still hurt from the fight… I guess if I’m not fighting until next year, (Topuria’s) probably not going to fight until next year, too, seeing as he’s probably recovering. I’m just gonna enjoy being the champion for the rest of the year, because I fought two times already in the first six months,” he finished.