Justin Gaethje may leave UFC if Conor McGregor gets next title fight?

Justin Gaethje (22-3-0) fell short in his attempt to dethrone UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov in October and hasn't competed in the octagon since the main event of UFC 254. 

Gaethje was, however, paying attention when Dustin Poirier (27-6-0) tallied an upset win over Conor McGregor (22-5-0) at Saturday's UFC 257 show, and the 32-year-old also heard McGregor's coach John Kavanagh say that McGregor wants a rematch with Poirier in May that would crown a new lightweight champion if Nurmagomedov stays retired as most expect. 

"For them to come out and say he wants a title shot next, rematch with Poirier, they're f---ing idiots," Gaethje said of McGregor on Wednesday, per Brett Okamoto. "He's been treated special over and over and he didn't capitalize on this opportunity. That event was for him, it was for him to win. He wants to be Mr. Humble now, but you know he would have been an a--hole had he won that fight.

"He's not fighting for a title. I will think about never fighting in the UFC again if he fights for a title. That would be preposterous. He's sitting at No. 6, he's won one fight in his entire life in the lightweight division. He picks and chooses who he fights. I would love to fight him but I don't think it should be next. But he ain't gonna fight me."

Poirier rose to No. 1 in the official UFC rankings for the division after Saturday's victory, while Gaethje dropped to No. 2 and McGregor to sixth. As MMA Junkie and others have reported, though, McGregor remains the promotion's top pay-per-view draw, so it's understandable Poirier would prefer to complete a career trilogy with McGregor than fight Gaethje for the belt.