- Justin Gaethje made a shocking admission about Dustin Poirier’s left hand
- “The Highlight” is rooting for Charles Oliveira to beat Islam Makhachev as he hopes to beat the Brazilian in a rematch
- The new BMF is not interested in Conor McGregor anymore
Justin Gaethje came in prepared for Dustin Poirier’s lethal left hand and got the job done by landing a vicious head kick en route to a KO victory at UFC 291. The new BMF prefers Charles Oliveira over Islam Makhachev next but has zero interest in taking on Conor McGregor.
Justin watched out for it
Speaking to reporters in his post-fight presser, “The Highlight” revealed that he had been watching out for Poirier’s left-hand weeks before they ever stepped inside the Octagon. Somehow, “The Diamond” still managed to land it and wobbled Gaethje. Nevertheless, “The Highlight” remained calm and focused on doing his thing which resulted in a sensational knockout win.
“Obviously that’s what I thought about every day for the last 12 weeks, is the left hand. That thing’s dangerous,” Gaethje revealed. “I really didn’t want to get hit by it but today my coach said don’t worry about it that’s not what we’re worried about, we’re worried about fighting a fight, fighting your fight and I went in there and I did that.”
Looking for another revenge
Aside from being the new BMF, Gaethje’s UFC 291 win could catapult him to lightweight title contention. He previously said beating reigning lightweight champ Islam Makhachev would’ve felt like avenging his lost to Khabib Nurmagomedov but if he is to pick, he’d prefer to get a chance to avenge his UFC 274 lost to Oliveira.
“I’d prefer Charles because he beat me,” Gaethje admitted. “I’m a competitor, this chance at redemption [at UFC 291] was amazing. It drove me to work harder, be ready more. But they’re the best in the world, and I want to fight the best in the world. After the last fight [with Makhachev], I couldn’t see Charles winning but I can hope.”
Conor is done
Shortly after knocking out Poirier, Gaethje received a bold callout from McGregor on social media. When asked to comment about it, “The Highlight” flat-out dismissed the idea and even accused “Notorious” of cheating.
“I think he’s turned me down six times and usually, you have to lose to fight him, so don’t know what’s going on,” Gaethje said of McGregor.
“I don’t know. You know, I don’t really care. Whatever. I fight MMA, I like to fight big fights, I like exciting things, so it sounds pretty exciting to me,” he added. “[But] I’m not going to fight someone on steroids. I’ve never taken steroids in my life, never will – well, maybe when I retire, I might. But I’ve never taken steroids, and I don’t want to fight someone that’s cheating. And I probably shouldn’t even say that if I want the fight, but it’s the truth.”
While savoring his latest victory, Gaethje would also have to keep an eye on Makhachev vs. Oliveira 2 at UFC 294.
