Conor McGregor has branded Justin Gaethje a "jackass" after the lightweight star tapped out against Charles Oliveira.
Gaethje was attempting to win the UFC's 155lb title at the second time of asking when he took on Oliveira at UFC 274 last night. Oliveira had been stripped of the belt on Friday after failing to make weight and so couldn't win the belt.
But the Brazilian looked as classy as ever in taking Gaethje down and forcing him to tap from a rear-naked choke in the opening round. Oliveira will challenge for the vacant belt in his next fight with potential challengers including Islam Makhachev, Michael Chandler and McGregor.
The Irishman is currently completing his recovery from the broken leg he suffered in his trilogy-fight defeat by Dustin Poirier last summer. He is unlikely to return to the cage until August at the earliest having only recently resumed boxing sparring.
That hasn't stopped the 33-year-old making noise on social media this weekend, and he took to Twitter to lash out at Gaethje, with whom he has a long-standing rivalry. "Gaethje is a jackass," McGregor wrote. "The amount of absolute dribble he speaks as well. Over and over. A Grad- A jackass! A bird brain with a bird-brain manager. Two bum t**** they are. He is. A Jackass."
McGregor's comments came days after Gaetjhe vowed to end the former two-weight champion's career in an unprovoked outburst. "The best part, when you're the champion the target's on your back," Gaethje told The Full Send podcast. "I'm not going to be looking back. At the end of the day I will be the champ and whoever's next will be next. I've just got to keep preparing myself, keep eating properly, keep isolating myself, take away all distractions.
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"At the end of the day, after I win this fight there's two people that are next in line. There's Beneil Dariush and [Islam] Makhachev, and they need to fight each other. And if Conor McGregor's there I think he's just as rightfully available as the other two because they need to fight. So I say either everyone deserves it or nobody deserves it. Someone needs to stand out. And yeah, whoever. I want that opportunity to take him away from the sport forever."
Gaethje's second defeat in his last three fights means he is unlikely to take on McGregor in the short-term, particularly if the Dubliner moves up to welterweight. He suggested he will do just that when he questioned whether he has the stomach to cut weight for a potential fight with Oliveira.
