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Justin Gaethje cemented himself as the No. 1 contender in the lightweight division with his head kick knockout win over Dustin Poirier, but an interesting detour presented itself when Conor McGregor injected his name in that conversation.

The former two-division UFC champion has been out of action for over two years while recovering from a broken leg suffered in his most recent outing but he rarely misses the chance to tout his comeback, especially when there’s a marquee fight happening around his weight class. As loud as McGregor has been in the aftermath of UFC 291, Gaethje’s longtime manager Ali Abdelaziz believes it’s more about chasing the spotlight than actually pursuing any fight.

“I believe Conor is full of s***,” Abdelaziz told MMA Fighting. “I believe he don’t want to fight Justin. He’s not even a fighter right now. He’s a retired fighter. He’s a retired troll with a lot of money. That’s it. He drinks all day, smokes weed, he does drugs and he can do whatever he wants but he’s not even a fighter but he wants to talk about fighters. He wants to talk about real killers. Conor McGregor is not a killer. He wants to talk about killers. Conor McGregor is not a fighter, he wants to talk about fighters. Conor McGregor is not a man. He wants to talk about men.

“He wants to be in the conversation but in reality, he’s not like none of these guys. These guys put the work in every day. They train, they sacrifice, they leave their families. What he does, he does everything wrong and you want be in the conversation. He missed it. He misses the limelight and the only way he can be in the limelight to speak about these gladiators. He’s not a gladiator anymore. He’s an old, beat up dirty dog. That’s what he is.”

The comment aimed at McGregor being “retired” stems from the Irish superstar removing himself from the UFC’s anti-doping program, which typically only happens when fighters either leave the organization or call it a career. McGregor did neither but he hasn’t been subjected to any drug testing for over a year.

That means McGregor has to undergo at least six months of drug testing as administered by the United States Anti-Doping Agency before he can compete again. Add to that, McGregor also spent a season on The Ultimate Fighter coaching opposite Michael Chandler, which was supposed to build to an eventual fight between them.

Lately, McGregor has been much more vocal about the potential matchup with Gaethje but Abdelaziz just isn’t buying it as a legitimate challenge.

“This is the scenario that will happen: T-Mobile Arena, sold out arena, 20,000 people. Justin Gaethje walk into that cage, Conor McGregor walk into that cage, Conor McGregor gets brutally hurt, injured, knocked out,” Abdelaziz said. “I think Justin Gaethje’s notorious for punishing people for disrespecting him in a fight. Like [Dan] Lauzon, like Michael Johnson, like [James] Vick, we know what happened to all these people.

“But the scenario that will happen, I promise you this, you’re going to see an ambulance going straight to the cage, picking up Conor McGregor straight to the hospital.”

As it stands, McGregor is looking to bounce back from two consecutive losses to Poirier, which dropped his record to 1-3 over his past four fights.

Despite the bluster coming from McGregor on social media, Abdelaziz isn’t taking anything seriously until he’s presented with an actual offer from the UFC and then he’ll take it into consideration.

“If this is what he wants, and somebody is willing to write a check and Trevor Wittman give me the greenlight, and the UFC wants it, maybe,” Abdelaziz said. “But I believe Justin Gaethje don’t need Conor McGregor. I believe Justin Gaethje his next fight will be for UFC gold. He earned it. I think he and Islam Makhachev is going to be one of the biggest fights of the year. I truly believe. I think it’s a story built into it. Both my clients, love both guys, both great men, both guys have a lot of honor and that’s what it’s all about in this sport.

“But if you want to go and somebody really get hurt, sign the contract. He don’t want to fight Justin Gaethje. He only fights people coming from losses. He only fights people he thinks he can beat. He thought he could beat Dustin Poirier. You see what Dustin Poirier did to him and you saw, respectfully, what Justin Gaethje did to Dustin Poirier. I’m telling you, Justin Gaethje’s not going to just go there and knock him out with one punch. He’s going to brutalize him. You will never see Conor McGregor again.”