Justin Gaethje says he wants to beat the dog snot out of Conor McGregor for sucker punching the guy in the bar, telling TMZ Sports he wants the fight, and it's personal.
On Thursday, Conor told ESPN's Ariel Helwani that he and Gaethje were lined up to fight in July ... before he broke his hand, torpedoing the match.
But, it ain't curtains on the fight just yet ... 'cause Gaethje joined the fellas on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs weeknights on FS1) and says he badly wants to meet Conor in the Octagon ... and it ain't just for his sake.
"Of course I want to f**k him up. I see him punch an old man, do I want to punch him for that? F**k yeah, I want to f**k that dude up for s**t like that. He looks like a crackhead on your video."
We asked Gaethje if he's lost respect for Conor after seeing video of the bar attack.
"Absolutely. Who didn't? If you don't, then you're a piece of s**t yourself. C'mon. The lack of respect, lack of morals, whatever you wanna call it."
But, before any Conor superfight, Gaethje's gotta take care of business with Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone at UFC Fight Night 158 on September 14.
"Hey I got f**king business in front of me, I got 'Cowboy.' And then I'm your huckleberry," Gaethje says ... "I'm right here, this s**t has to go forward, has to move on. He's either in or out."
Gaethje continued ... "He did that interview for a reason, and that means he wants to fight. I don't give a f**k if it's me or somebody else. But, again, his ego will get him put to sleep 1 or 2 more times before he is done and takes his money and rides off into the sunset."