UFC President Dana White has officially tabbed Justin Gaethje as the next man in line for a UFC lightweight title shot and suggests Conor McGregor could return in the second quarter of 2022.
At UFC 268, Gaethje (23-3) was victorious in what will go down as a legendary lightweight fight against Michael Chandler. The battle of top-five 155-pound talents was viewed by many as a title eliminator bout, with the last man standing getting the winner of the UFC 269 championship fight between Charles Oliveira and Dustin Poirier.
However, following the event the UFC’s president was noncommital on proclaiming “The Highlight” the undisputed top contender. Instead, he offered up his trademark “we’ll see” response to any questions on the subject. With a few weeks passing since that night in New York’s Madison Square Garden, it seems White has finally found the clarity to make it known that Gaethje’s got next on whoever is holding the gold after next week’s title bout.
Dana White finally calls Justin Gaethje the lightweight #1 contender
“As long as everybody’s healthy and everything’s good, it should be him,” White said on The JIm Rome Podcast when asked if Gaethje is the division’s top contender. “Coming off one of the greatest fights anybody’s ever seen in their life. I literally predicted the whole week that that would be the ‘Fight of the Night’ and it ended up being the ‘Fight of a Lifetime’ and one of the greatest fights anybody has ever seen.”
Gaethje is a former interim lightweight champion and is 5-2 over his last seven bouts inside the Octagon. His two losses came to retired and unbeaten former champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, and the next challenger to the title in Poirier.
Conor McGregor could make his UFC return in the second quarter of 2022
Yet, whenever the UFC boss is asked about the latest news in the 155-pound division, he’s always questioned about the next UFC appearance for promotion superstar Conor McGregor (22-6). The former two-division champ is currently rehabbing a fractured leg suffered during his July loss to Poirier at UFC 264. It was his second straight technical knockout defeat to the “Diamond” over a six-month period.
White claims it will be a while before the Irish star is ready to return, but an Octagon comeback in the second quarter of 2022 looks possible for the man he says is in the midst of some “Rocky III” level training.
“He’s chomping at the bit to get back in there and compete again. It’s going to be a while before he can put some torque on that leg. For him to start training again in April is probably about right,” he said.
“He obviously still has the desire to compete. You don’t ever hear Conor going, ‘You know what, man? I just don’t have the desire for this anymore.’ You now what I mean? White continued. “Yes, he’s obviously very rich, and he’s training like Rocky in ‘Rocky III,’ but he still has the desire to compete and the desire to fight, and we’ll see what happens.”
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