Conor McGregor urged to come out of retirement by Justin Gaethje, who wants to surpass Anderson Silva’s UFC ‘legacy’

JUSTIN GAETHJE believes wins over Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov would leave him with a better legacy than Anderson Silva.

But the American would have to first become the first man to beat lightweight king Khabib and then convince McGregor to come out of retirement.

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Gaethje, 31, faces Russian Khabib in a lightweight unification on Fight Island next month.

And if he upsets the odds and entice McGregor, 32, back into the octagon, the interim champion feels he can leave a better impact than Silva, 45, who has the longest title reign, spanning 2,457 days.

Gaethje told : "I’ve watched this sport for a long time - I truly think that if I can beat Khabib and then beat Conor, I will have cemented something that is unmatched.

"Anderson Silva, I wouldn’t have matched his title reign. That title reign is something unmatched - but in a different regard, it will be much bigger.

"Khabib is the number one pound-for-pound (fighter) and you have to put it in context of me.

"Coming off those two losses, everyone was saying ‘He’s done.’

"The fact that, the way I was fighting, we all loved it but there was absolutely not chance I was ever gonna fight for a world title.

"It will be a legacy that I came to cement."

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Gaethje set up his shot at Nurmagomedov after the unbeaten champion was unable to fight Tony Ferguson, 36, at UFC 249 in May.

It put him on a four fight win streak and on the path to his first UFC title shot.

Gaethje revealed the pay-per-view headliner will put him in a position that promises his mum Carolina will not have to work again.

He said: “With my family, with my life, with everything, there’s different kinds of wealth.

“With a win here, I have a really good opportunity - it wouldn’t necessarily be generational wealth, but it would be a generation worth of wealth.

"So that’s something. Whether I win or lose, I’m gonna have my mom call her boss and tell her she’s retiring.

“It’s f***ing huge, man. There’s a certain amount of money I think one needs to attain in order to have the opportunity to grow exponentially, financially.

"I think a win over Khabib gives me that.”