Gaethje Turns Down McGregor’s Callout: ‘I’m Not Going to Fight Someone on Steroids’

Justin Gaethje wasn’t impressed that he captured Conor McGregor’s attention Saturday night in Salt Lake City.

Gaethje (25-4, 8-4 UFC) is coming off an impressive performance against Dustin Poirier in the UFC 291 headliner, a second-round knockout victory that earned “The Highlight” his second consecutive triumph and the symbolic “BMF” title. In victory, Gaethje also avenged the loss he suffered at the hands of Poirier in their first encounter in 2018. Moments after his win, Gaethje was called out by former Ultimate Fighting Championship two-division champion McGregor, who promised to “slap” Gaethje around in a since-then deleted Tweet.

On previous occasions, the former World Series of Fighting champ attempted to face McGregor in the Octagon, but the matchup never materialized. In the UFC 291 post-fight press conference, Gaethje stated he wasn’t interested in the McGregor fight anymore, implying “The Notorious” was taking illegal substances since he wasn’t in the USADA pool.

“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. I don’t 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. 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.”

Currently, McGregor is attached to a clash with Michael Chandler after the pair coached “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 31. While the Nevada-based promotion implied the bout would go down this year, possibly in December, McGregor still needs to re-enter the USADA pool after suffering a leg injury sustained in the rubber match with Poirier.