UFC star Gaethje blasts McGregor for his conduct: 'I will never respect you' (VIDEO)

Ahead of his main event fight with Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone at UFC Vancouver, Justin Gaethje made clear his views on controversial fellow UFC lightweight Conor McGregor as he said he'd be happy to welcome him back to the octagon.

Gaethje, who had made his feelings known on McGregor's recent conduct in a tweet posted at the weekend, said that he wants to face the winner of the expected lightweight title clash between reigning champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and former interim champ Tony Ferguson. But before then, he said he'd be more than happy to face McGregor next.

“I'll take the winner of Khabib and Tony and if that little Irish f**k wants to come back, then I’m right here, man,” Gaethje told reporters at the open workouts in Vancouver.

“I’m the perfect guy to bring him back.”

“Facts are facts,” Gaethje continued.

“You cannot represent yourself in the public eye like that and expect your child to respect what you do.

“You are an influence. You are a hero to your children, and you are a fool to think they are not going to follow in your footsteps.”

Gaethje said he ended up in fighting almost by accident after earning a degree as a social worker. And McGregor's recent incident in a Dublin pub, where he punched a defenceless man in the head, left a nasty taste in the American's mouth.

“I’ve got a human services major – social work,” he said.

“Being here is just a circumstance of my life... I wanted to be a social worker. To see him treat people like that, to see him take a phone, even before he takes the phone and smashes it, to see him walk around with his chest in the air like that, do not represent yourself like that. I will never respect you.”