Justin Gaethje trashed Conor McGregor by saying he avoided a fight when he called him a 's--- father [and] human'

• Justin Gaethje has fanned the flames of his fierce rivalry with Conor McGregor by saying the Irishman swerved a fight together even after he called him a "s--- father, husband."
• Gaethje is one of the biggest stars in the UFC right now after bludgeoning Tony Ferguson in May, and is now one day away from fighting Khabib Nurmagomedov in one of the biggest sporting events of the year.
• The American striker is a dangerous competitor for Nurmagomedov, according to one of the Russian's closest friends, Dan Cormier.
• Gaethje himself said he is motivated to succeed as an American fighting a Russian, and so he can earn enough money that his mother, Carolina, can finally retire after 35 years as a postmaster.

FIGHT ISLAND — Justin Gaethje trashed one of his UFC lightweight rivals Conor McGregor by saying the Irishman avoided a fight after he called him "a s--- father [and] human."

The interim UFC lightweight title-holder Gaethje is preparing for the toughest test of his career as he challenges Khabib Nurmagomedov for the lightweight championship on Fight Island in Abu Dhabi.

But ahead of the high-stakes bout, Gaethje reflected on the 155-pound landscape over the last year.

It is a division which has seen great change with the return of McGregor, the signing of the former three-time Bellator MMA champion Michael Chandler, and Gaethje's merciless beating of Tony Ferguson in May.

Though Gaethje fights for Nurmagomedov's lightweight belt this weekend, he still had some choice words for McGregor when speaking to BT Sport this week.

"I've tweeted [McGregor] and called him a s--- father, human, and husband. That was in October and he fought Cowboy [Donald Cerrone] in January."

—Justin Gaethje (@Justin_Gaethje) September 8, 2019

"He had every opportunity to fight me and he passed every time. The times he said he was going to fight, I never had a call from UFC or anybody to confirm whether that happened, so I don't know what was going on behind the scenes.

"But they never called me and he had many opportunities to fight me and he didn't. He chose Cowboy and I'd just knocked Cowboy out … that's a b---- move. And it will be a b---- move for the rest of his life."

Gaethje is dangerous and unbreakable, according to one of Nurmagomedov's closest friends

Before Gaethje can talk-up a potential lightweight barnburner with McGregor, he first must fight Nurmagomedov.

It pits the champion's sambo style of wrestling against the challenger's unorthodox striking.

Although Nurmagomedov is undefeated and has barely even lost one round in 28 professional MMA bouts, the people closest to him are expecting the American to provide the Russian with his greatest challenge to date.

At a Fight Island media day Thursday, the UFC commentator and former two-weight UFC champion Daniel Cormier, who trains alongside Nurmagomedov at the American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose, said Gaethje thrives in chaos.

"I think why Justin is so dangerous [is] because he hasn't shown that he can break," Cormier said.

"He seems to thrive in that chaos. When it gets uglier and dirtier and more grimy, he's cut-up, dropped multiple times … dude's smiling. So I think he believes that won't happen to him [breaking under the pressure]."

Cormier continued: "You find motivation in different things. He finds his motivation in representing our country. Because Khabib is Russian. He is Russian, right? So it feels like Rocky 4. And I love that dynamic. That he's making that a part of the story."

Speaking at a beachside face-off Wednesday, Gaethje said "representing the United States is special."

He said: "I never thought a kid from Safford, Arizona, would be able to have this opportunity especially halfway across the world in Abu Dhabi. I've never been to a place like this before.

"I'm not even supposed to be here. This is supposed to be Tony Ferguson. Thank God I got that opportunity and I took it from him. I took his soul.

"Now, again, I perform when I'm under those lights. It's ingrained in both of us. We'll both fight for our lives. It's huge for me, huge for my family, huge for my country … for my small town of Safford, Arizona. I'm so proud of that."

Gaethje is fighting for his mother's retirement

Though the national rivalry between America and Russia is important to Gaethje, he said he is motivated at the prospect of earning enough money to ensure his mother, Carolina, can retire after 35 years as a postmaster.

"My parents have never flown international," Gaethje said at the beachside media event. "They got to fly business class.

"My dad retired a little over a year ago after working 37 years in a copper mine. My mom is going to retire … if this fight starts, when that bell rings at the beginning I will secure that she will retire after this fight."

Gaethje said that his parents sacrificed a lot of time, money, and energy raising him and his siblings.

"Every piece of money they had went into me, my brother, and sister [for] opportunities," Gaethje said.

"We'd get up, drive two to three hours and go to wrestling tournaments, sometimes staying overnight. And they financially took hits every time we did that.

"Nothing is better on Earth than being able to repay that."

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