Top UFC lightweight Justin Gaethje has warned the promotion he will cause havoc if Conor McGregor is given a lightweight title shot before him.
UFC boss Dana White confirmed Gaethje will be next in line to fight champion Charles Oliveira following the Brazilian's title defence against Dustin Poirier earlier this month.
Former interim titleholder Gaethje put on a Fight of the Year contender when he outpointed Michael Chandler at UFC 268 in November.
McGregor called for his title shot on Twitter last week by writing: "So what date am I fighting Oliveira?"
And Oliveira has admitted he would prefer a big money fight with McGregor over a bout with Gaethje, which has left 'The Highlight' worrying about his position.
He told TMZ Sports : "I'll burn it all down... He [McGregor] is so irrelevant. He hasn't won a fight since 2016 in the lightweight division.
"I'm ranked No.1. I saw they updated the rankings. I'm No.1 now. That feels pretty good... My whole life I've been working towards this [title shot]. That's what's next.
"If not... I'll show up and start throwing dollies everywhere. I don't know what the answer is."
Gaethje's return last month marked his first fight since being submitted by now-retired UFC champion Khabib Nurmagomedov in 2020.
Oliveira knocked out Chandler in May to win Nurmagomedov's vacated title and defended it for the first time against Poirier at UFC 269.
And Gaethje has vowed to not entertain a fight with McGregor if he wins the title unless the No.9 ranked lightweight goes "through the process."
"I would absolutely not allow him to fight for the title, if he does not win and go through the process," he continued.
"There's too many... Beneil Dariush, Islam Makhachev, those are the guys that I would fight. Not Conor McGregor, that's not how this works.
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"He's becoming more and more irrelevant as time goes on, pretty soon you won't be asking me these questions. It's gonna be a beautiful f****** day."
McGregor has just one win at 155-pounds since 2016, with his most recent win against Donald Cerrone last year taking place at welterweight.
And Gaethje has given Oliveira a lot of credit after submitting Poirier last weekend.
"I don't need to talk any s***, he's come so far. I saw him after the fight, I told him he deserved it," he said.
"I said before if he goes out and beats Poirier, I'd give him all the credit in the world. So that's what I'm giving him.
"He's a formidable opponent. Number one in the world, I cannot wait to fight him in America, Brazil, Canada, any of those three, I'm in."
