May 11 (UPI) -- Former UFC two-weight champion Conor McGregor went on a Twitter tirade Monday and demanded a fight with new interim lightweight champion Justin Gaethje.
McGregor (22-4) started his outburst on social media by challenging Gaethje, who is coming off a fifth-round TKO of Tony Ferguson at UFC 249 on Saturday. Gaethje is expected to face undisputed champion Khabib Nurmagomedov in a unification bout at some point.
McGregor ended the rant by calling Nurmagomedov an "absolute embarrassment to real fighting." He later hinted at a return to the Octagon in July.
"The fans make the sport!" McGregor wrote on Twitter. "Watching the other night, I was against going in without them. But it will be my [expletive] pleasure to display the power I possess with zero background noise for them. It's me and Justin next as Khabib is the biggest bottle fighter in the game. Guarantee it.
"Justin, there is no danger in a man that hugs leg, we all know. Try and dance around what the real threat is here all you want. I am going to [expletive] butcher you. Your teeth. I'm going to put them on a [expletive] necklace. Speak on my skills as a father? You are [expletive] dead."
McGregor appeared to reference a tweet from Gaethje last September in which he called McGregor a "[expletive] human, father and husband."
McGregor, 31, last fought at UFC 246 in January, when he beat Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone in the first round via TKO.
