Gaethje is a very bad match-up for McGregor. McGregor will never ask for that fight. NEVER. I've always felt that the best way to beat McGregor was attack the lead leg which I saw Shogun do against Machida when most MMA fans thought the "Machida Era" would last a long time given how he steam-rolled everyone on his way up the ranks and then won the LHW title with relative ease. In addition to brutally beating McGregor's lead leg into pulp, Gaethje is far mentally tougher than McGregor. Gaethje's predictable forward pressure style means he takes damage (less now since he uses head movement and feints), but he generally eats it up and keeps going forward with his mission of destruction. McGregor by comparison often quits when the going gets tough as he knows that Uncle Dana will continue to gift him with more title shots regardless of winning or losing fights, so why take the extra punishment. Gaethje also hits way harder and I question McGregor's chin in addition to questionable mental toughness. McGregor could possibly land something big in R1 and win the fight. However, if he doesn't get the early KO or TKO, his shitty cardio combined with Gaethje's brutal and high pace attacks would most certainly lead to an embarrassing beat down loss and lots of body damage. Plus Gaethje has the wrestling/grappling advantage if he decides to mix things up and tire McGregor in R1 to take away McGregor's only path to victory...
