Conor McGregor feels like a ‘concrete block’ against the featherweight division

LAS VEGAS — Chad Mendes dropped the hammer on Conor McGregor more than any of the Irishman’s previous opponents, but in the end, the song remained the same. McGregor met Mendes’ best shots with a sneer, then put away the wrestler with a volley of punches in the closing moments of the second round to capture the UFC interim featherweight title at UFC 189.

“He has heavy shots, he’s put people away, but I didn’t feel nothing,” McGregor said of Mendes at UFC 189’s post-fight press conference. “I don’t feel anything when these featherweights hit me. I feel like a concrete block.”

As we’ve come to expect from McGregor (18-2), the fight was pure theater from start to finish.

Mendes (17-3) looked to test McGregor’s wrestling and did so successfully, taking the fight to the mat four times and controlling large portions of the fight from top position. It was all for naught though, as McGregor settled the pair’s rivalry by doing exactly what he vowed to do, Mystic Mac style.

“I have no ill feelings against Chad,” McGregor said.

“When we left the stage [on Friday], I was thinking in my head, you know, he’s playing the game here. He thinks it’s a game, but really, this is no game here. I said to myself after the weigh-ins, ‘tomorrow night there will be no bouncing around. We’re going to be face to face and we’ll see then.’ So when we came face to face [on Saturday], I said to him, ‘let’s see who takes a back-step now. Let’s see who takes the first back-step now.’ So I marched forward, and he took the first back-step. Then that was the fight.”

While McGregor’s self-confidence is unshakable, many wondered in the lead-up to the bout whether McGregor had the defensive chops to fend off a wrestler as accomplished as Mendes. But McGregor not only silenced one the division’s most decorated mat workers, he managed to do so while unloading a steady barrage of in-fight trash talk.

“[Mendes] secured one or two takedowns, but again, I knew the efficient man prevails,” McGregor said. “In a fight to the death, where there is no clock or no time limit, the man who is efficient is the man who prevails. So when I was on the mat, I was patient. I landed shots when I could, I stayed safe.

“He might have thrown an overhand. He threw an elbow that split me on the eye. That was one. But then every other one was glancing, and every shot I was like, ‘eh-eh.’ That’s what I kept saying. ‘Nope. Nope. Eh-eh.’ So I felt I was preserving energy, being efficient. Then when the opportunity arose to go back to the feet, I attacked the gut.

“Them teeps to the gut, them side kicks to the gut, they don’t look like much,” McGregor continued. “To the naked eye, they don’t look like much. Only me and him know about it. Only me and the opponent know about it. But they suck rounds out of you. So that’s what happened. His body, he was searching for his gas tank, and I was stabbing him in the gas tank. Then the straight shots landed, the roundhouse, the spinning kicks. I felt the fight went exactly as I said it would, like they usually do.”

LAS VEGAS — Chad Mendes dropped the hammer on Conor McGregor more than any of the Irishman’s previous opponents, but in the end, the song remained the same. McGregor met Mendes’ best shots with a sneer, then put away the wrestler with a volley of punches in the closing moments of the second round to capture the UFC interim featherweight title at UFC 189.

“He has heavy shots, he’s put people away, but I didn’t feel nothing,” McGregor said of Mendes at UFC 189’s post-fight press conference. “I don’t feel anything when these featherweights hit me. I feel like a concrete block.”

As we’ve come to expect from McGregor (18-2), the fight was pure theater from start to finish.

Mendes (17-3) looked to test McGregor’s wrestling and did so successfully, taking the fight to the mat four times and controlling large portions of the fight from top position. It was all for naught though, as McGregor settled the pair’s rivalry by doing exactly what he vowed to do, Mystic Mac style.

“I have no ill feelings against Chad,” McGregor said.

“When we left the stage [on Friday], I was thinking in my head, you know, he’s playing the game here. He thinks it’s a game, but really, this is no game here. I said to myself after the weigh-ins, ‘tomorrow night there will be no bouncing around. We’re going to be face to face and we’ll see then.’ So when we came face to face [on Saturday], I said to him, ‘let’s see who takes a back-step now. Let’s see who takes the first back-step now.’ So I marched forward, and he took the first back-step. Then that was the fight.”

While McGregor’s self-confidence is unshakable, many wondered in the lead-up to the bout whether McGregor had the defensive chops to fend off a wrestler as accomplished as Mendes. But McGregor not only silenced one the division’s most decorated mat workers, he managed to do so while unloading a steady barrage of in-fight trash talk.

“[Mendes] secured one or two takedowns, but again, I knew the efficient man prevails,” McGregor said. “In a fight to the death, where there is no clock or no time limit, the man who is efficient is the man who prevails. So when I was on the mat, I was patient. I landed shots when I could, I stayed safe.

“He might have thrown an overhand. He threw an elbow that split me on the eye. That was one. But then every other one was glancing, and every shot I was like, ‘eh-eh.’ That’s what I kept saying. ‘Nope. Nope. Eh-eh.’ So I felt I was preserving energy, being efficient. Then when the opportunity arose to go back to the feet, I attacked the gut.

“Them teeps to the gut, them side kicks to the gut, they don’t look like much,” McGregor continued. “To the naked eye, they don’t look like much. Only me and him know about it. Only me and the opponent know about it. But they suck rounds out of you. So that’s what happened. His body, he was searching for his gas tank, and I was stabbing him in the gas tank. Then the straight shots landed, the roundhouse, the spinning kicks. I felt the fight went exactly as I said it would, like they usually do.”