UFC's Justin Gaethje Says Conor McGregor Is 'On His Knees Begging for a Fight'

Fresh off winning the interim UFC lightweight championship, Justin Gaethje continued his verbal attacks on Conor McGregor. 

Speaking to TMZ Sports, Gaethje said he has McGregor "on his knees begging for a fight."

Gaethje defeated Tony Ferguson at UFC 249 to become the interim lightweight champion. Two days later, McGregor took to Twitter to call out The Highlight (warning: links contain NSFW language).

Despite McGregor's insistence that he will get the next fight against Gaethje, UFC president Dana White told reporters after Wednesday's Fight Night show there will be a lightweight title unification bout with Khabib Nurmagomedov in September. 

Nurmagomedov was originally supposed to defend the lightweight crown against Ferguson at UFC 249 on April 18, but the Eagle was unable to leave Russia because of travel restrictions amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Gaethje, who was coming off three consecutive wins, took Nurmagomedov's spot, and the event was rescheduled to May 9. The 31-year-old won his first title as a UFC fighter with a fifth-round TKO. 

Assuming Gaethje-Nurmagomedov is the next lightweight title bout, McGregor figures to take on the winner at some point. The Notorious started the year off with a 40-second TKO win over Donald Cerrone at UFC 246 in January.