Gaethje's manager: Rumors of McGregor fight 'absolutely false'
A fight between Conor McGregor and Justin Gaethje is not actually in the works, according to Gaethje's manager, Ali Abdelaziz.
This rumor about @Justin_Gaethje fighting vs @TheNotoriousMMA is absolutely false. He had the opportunity to fight him already instead of cowboy but he didn’t. Justin is the number one contender and like khabib said. Conor needs to win 10 fights.
— Ali Abdelaziz (@AliAbdelaziz00) February 25, 2020
ESPN's Ariel Helwani reported Monday that Gaethje is the current front-runner to be McGregor's next opponent, adding that the bout could take place in the summer. However, Helwani said talks are very preliminary and plans could change before anything is finalized.
Neither McGregor's team nor the UFC has commented on the potential matchup.
"The Notorious" returned to the cage in January, defeating Donald Cerrone 40 seconds into their welterweight bout at UFC 246.
UFC president Dana White said before and after the fight that he wanted McGregor to fight the winner of Khabib Nurmagomedov versus Tony Ferguson for the lightweight title.
McGregor also expressed interest in a rematch with Nurmagomedov, who submitted the Irishman at UFC 229 in October 2018.
Gaethje believes his next fight should be for the title but is open to fighting McGregor if that doesn't come to fruition. "The Highlight," who has scored three straight finishes, called out the former two-division champion as recently as last weekend.