Conor McGregor: ‘I’m facing whoever the f*ck has that lightweight title next, deal with it’

Conor McGregor is still months away from competing again but the Irish superstar is definitely fired up while declaring his intention to fight for UFC gold once he’s back.

The former two-division champion has been sidelined since July when he suffered a gruesome broken leg in his trilogy fight against Dustin Poirier. McGregor has been rehabilitating with the intention of returning to the octagon by mid-2022 and he’s confident a title shot will be waiting for him.

“I’m facing whoever the f*ck has that lightweight title next. Deal with it,” McGregor wrote in response to an article predicting what was next for him.

“Take off your goggles and mark the trilogy [with Dustin Poirier] ‘unfinished.’ Deal with that too. The rest mentioned, after this. Deal. With. It.”

McGregor last fought for a UFC title in 2018 when he suffered a fourth-round submission loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov. Overall, McGregor has gone 1-3 in his past four fights with the last loss coming against Poirier in their trilogy fight after he suffered the broken leg at the end of the first round, which obviously stopped the contest.

Right now, Poirier is getting ready to face Charles Oliveira in the main event at UFC 269 on Dec. 11 with the winner of that fight expected to clash with Justin Gaethje in 2022.

McGregor seems intent on then putting his name into the mix to fight for the lightweight title as well as attempting to avenge his past two losses to Poirier after they faced off twice already in 2021.

As far as coming back from the injury, McGregor fired back at detractors who have questioned if he’ll ever be the same again after suffering the broken leg.

“I will no have issue returning from this injury,” McGregor said. “Not an iota of issue. I’ve already prepared for a fight under these exact conditions. Here is a snap from my last camp. At McGregorFast HQ with team. Shin pad taped on to the left leg due to stress fractures/trauma.

“Me and all you pull out merchants are not the same! You are b*tch made and I’m now steel. This game has just begun. Know that all my enemies are of similar age and experience, and for this reason, I hereby declare this war forever!”

McGregor had previously revealed that pre-existing trauma in his leg had him convinced that he might suffer an injury in the third fight with Poirier in July. Sadly, McGregor’s prophetic analysis came true but he seems more than ready to put in the work to make a comeback next year.

Of course, McGregor also took exception to the idea that becoming one of the highest paid athletes in all of sports has somehow taken away his hunger or desire.

As legendary boxer Marvin Hagler once said: “It’s tough to get out of bed to do roadwork at 5 a.m. when you’ve been sleeping in silk pajamas.”

“They say time and time again that my accumulated wealth has quelled my fire,” McGregor said. “They are wrong.”