"I think Conor McGregor knocks out Justin Gaethje" - Eddie Alvarez predicts possible clash between Irishman and 'The Highlight'
Former UFC lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez has faced both Justin Gaethje and Conor McGregor inside the Octagon, having beaten the former via TKO in the third round of the pair's lightweight clash at UFC 218 while ending up losing his lightweight title to the Irishman in the headliner of UFC 205.
Following the biggest win of Gaethje's career against Tony Ferguson in the main event of UFC 249, UFC President Dana White announced that interim champion Gaethje will take on reigning champion Khabib Nurmagomedov in a title-unification bout sometime in September. However, Conor McGregor soon jumped into the discussion by calling out Gaethje on Twitter after the latter's huge win against Ferguson.
"Justin, there is no danger in a man that hugs legs, we all know. Try and dance around what the real threat is here all you want. I am going to butcher you. Your teeth. I’m going to put them on a necklace. Speak on my skills as a father? You are f****ng dead."
Will Conor McGregor get his hands on Justin Gaethje this year?
Now, we know that ideally Justin Gaethje's next opponent should be Khabib Nurmagomedov but we've seen crazy things happen in the past and with a money-spinner like Conor McGregor in the mix, anything can happen. Also, with Nurmagomedov's father Abdulmanap being critically ill, a September date for the fight against Gaethje looks highly unlikely at the moment.
In a recent appearance on TheScore, Eddie Alvarez discussed the possible outcome of a fight between McGregor and Gaethje, and having fought both fighters inside the Octagon, "The Underground King" believes that the Irishman will have an advantage over Gaethje in a prospective matchup if both fighters indulge in a stand and trade style of fighting.
“I think a knockout (for McGregor). I was able to catch (Gaethje) quite a bit with punches, and you watch, Dustin (Poirier) was able to box him a little bit. The thing with Justin, if I thought he was going to implement a ground game and go in there and take Conor McGregor down and put him against the cage and do what Khabib did, I would say, ‘Justin is going to do really well against him. Just standing for standing, is what I feel like it’ll end up being, there’s just too many mistakes Justin would end up making and Conor would be able to kind of capitalize.”