UFC's Justin Gaethje: Money Changed Conor McGregor, And Now He's Gotta Pay

Conor McGregor was an awesome rags to riches story ... before he went nuts and attacked a damn bus -- so says UFC star Justin Gaethje.

We spoke with Justin -- one of the top fighters in McGregor's 155-pound division -- and he told us Conor's an extreme example of broke fighters who get too much, too soon.

"McGregor wasn’t rich 5 years ago. Now, you put $100 million in his pocket and you see how it changes people," Gaethje told TMZ Sports.

"It’s a crazy world, this MMA game -- especially being at the top in the UFC."

With that in mind, Justin does NOT wanna see McGregor banned from fighting. He'd rather kick his ass, personally.

"He’s gonna pay multi-millions of dollars to people and that’ll be punishment enough."

There's more -- Gaethje told us why Khabib Nurmagomedov's no more of a champion than Conor ... and put an expiration date on his own MMA career (and it's sooner than you think).

Justin also dished on his scrap with Dustin Poirier this Saturday at 'UFC on Fox 29' ... and considering his last bout was 2017's Fight of the Year, we suggest you tune in.