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Conor McGregor admits to drinking alcohol prior to his fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229.
It doesn’t look like Conor McGregor was taking his training camp too seriously for the Khabib fight, as ‘The Notorious’ admitted in a recent interview with ESPN’s Ariel Helwani that he was drinking alcohol and getting drunk during UFC 229 fight week.
McGregor, who lost the fight via fourth-round submission, also claims to have entered the bout with a broken foot.
“Good couple of months ago (since I drank),” McGregor said in the lead-up to his return bout against Donald Cerrone at UFC 246 (h/t MMA Junkie). “Three, four months ago maybe. … I was drinking all the way through fight week last time (for Nurmagomedov).”
McGregor says UFC 229 was an exception and admits he never usually drinks before fights. According to the man himself, there was ‘venom’ in his blood in the lead-up to the Khabib bout.
“Not to that extent (it wasn’t common),” McGregor said. “I just had this venom in me or something. I don’t know why.”
Explaining his pre-fight antics in detail, McGregor said he would often celebrate with alcohol after beating up Russian and Dagestani men in what ‘The Notorious’ describes as ‘full-blown’ fights in the gym.
“I had people holed up in a hotel from that part of the world (Dagestan/Russia), and I would ring and arrange a fight and I would ring them and they would come down to the gym and have a full-blown fight – no head guard, gloves that were small,” he said. “A fight. I’d win, I’d have a war, and I’d win and I’d knock the guy out then I’d go off and celebrate. Then I’d come back in three days – not doing what I should’ve been doing, not living the life I should’ve been.”
“I’m not going back there,” he added. “I’m in a better place. I’ve made mistakes and I’ve been man enough to admit them and correct it, and that’s what I’ve done. I might not be perfect, but with a good sleep and a full belly, I’m damn close.”
UFC 246: McGregor vs. Cerrone takes place this Saturday, Jan. 18 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.