“I don’t really get excited. It’s just how I am, nothing really gets me riled up too much,” Robbie Lawler isn’t concerned with McGregor’s welterweight aspirations.
Although Conor McGregor has yet to claim the UFC lightweight title, “The Notorious” is already planning to move up to the welterweight division to challenge Robbie Lawler.
McGregor, who will take on 155 lbs. champion Rafael dos Anjos on March 5th, revealed his plans to win three separate titles at the UFC 197 press conference on Wednesday.
“I am an active champion, I will fight in many weight divisions,” McGregor said. “I like the sound of the 170-pound title, I’ve got to be honest with you. I feel I can take down them three gold belts, so, and I feel like I can do it by the year’s end.”
“Ruthless”, who defeated Carlos Condit to retain the welterweight championship for the second time at UFC 195, responded to McGregor’s comments yesterday.
“I don’t really get excited,” Lawler told MMA Junkie. “It’s just how I am, nothing really gets me riled up too much. I just concentrate on myself. A lot of things could happen; everyone knows that. So I can’t concentrate on all these what-ifs because these what-ifs might never happen, and then I’ve wasted my time. So there you go.”
After mixed success in Strikeforce, Lawler reinvented himself as one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world when he returned to the UFC in 2013. The American Top Team fighter saw a sensational career resurgence that catapulted him to the top of the welterweight division. It’s expected that Lawler will face Tyron Woodley or the winner of Johny Hendricks vs. Stephen Thompson for his next title defense.
Conor McGregor will attempt to become the promotion’s first ever simultaneous two-division champion when he collides with Rafael dos Anjos at UFC 197 on March 5th. The Irishman set the record for the fastest ever title-fight KO — thirteen seconds — when he dethroned Jose Aldo to become featherweight champion at UFC 189 in December.
(Press conference transcripts via MMA Mania)