Israel Adesanya wants to see UFC lightweight champion Justin Gaethje get a mega fight.
Gaethje (28-5 MMA, 11-5 UFC) dethroned Ilia Topuria (17-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC) in a massive upset Sunday in the UFC Freedom 250 headliner at the White House in Washington.
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No. 1 contender Arman Tsarukyan (23-3 MMA, 10-2 UFC) awaits, but former UFC middleweight champion Adesanya thinks Gaethje should fight the winner of the rematch between Conor McGregor (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) and Max Holloway (27-9 MMA, 23-9 UFC), which headlines UFC 329 on July 11 from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (Paramount+).
“Look, he lives good, he eats a lot, which I like, he knows how to train, he knows what to do, but to be at the top, top of this game, you can’t be hanging out with Sneako and N3on on the regular,” Adesanya told Demetrious Johnson of Tsarukyan. “You’ve got to be in the gym. I know this; you know this. You’ve got to be at least as active as possible.
“So Arman, I’d say popularity wise, his stock is boom, shot up. He’s doing the right thing. But I think Gaethje sitting frontside at the Max vs. Conor (fight) in Vegas, he’s already got the story there with Max. He wants revenge. But also Conor and Gaethje would feed familie. It would feed f*cking countries. That would be crazy.”
McGregor addressed the possibility of fighting Gaethje in a recent appearance on “The Ariel Helwani Show.”
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“I think Gaethje, when he’s on, he’s good. He’s OK,” McGregor said. “But when he’s off, he’s atrocious. I fancy him handily. I fancy teeing off on Gaethje.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Israel Adesanya shares fight that ‘would be crazy’ for Justin Gaethje
