Former UFC lightweight interim champion Justin Gaethje thinks Conor McGregor will come out victorious in his second outing against another former interim king – Dustin Poirier.
The Irish superstar will fight his American opponent at UFC 257 on January 23, 2021. The first time “The Notorious” and “The Diamond” square up was in 2014 when Conor got the W via KO.
Gathje, meanwhile, is looking to rebound after his loss to Khabib Nurmgomedov this past October. “The Eagle” submitted “The Highlight” and announced his retirement after the bout which leaves UFC without a current lightweight champion.
“This is two really high-level fighters. Conor’s really good. I do see him probably winning. I don’t know. It’ll be interesting to see if Dustin rises to the occasion”, said Gaethje.
The first fight between McGregor and Poirier was in the featherweight division, but Justin doesn’t see the added weight being problem for the former two-division champion.
“I don’t think that’s an issue,” he added.
“I think what’s different is their mindsets because of the places they were in and the places they’ve gone since then. They’re different people since that fight, both of them. So that’ll be interesting to see.”
With Gaethje making no secret of his intention to take on the winner, he’ll be keeping a close eye on this one.
However, he has previously reiterated his belief that a title challenger needs to come into the fight off a win – so we could well see him in action before a potential big feel fight with McGregor or Poirier.
