Conor McGregor has said that Ricardo Lamas should be cut from the UFC. He’s called him a “big fat mess.” Of all the contenders in the UFC featherweight division, no one has taken more verbal abuse from McGregor — not even Jose Aldo.
Yet when asked about McGregor’s barbs, Lamas just laughs.
“Nothing McGregor says can piss me off,” Lamas told MMAFighting.com. “He can’t get under my skin.”
Lamas actually might have done that to McGregor. He fought back with a parody video on YouTube featuring “Conrad McGillicutty,” Lamas wearing a fake beard and talking in an Irish brogue. McGregor has blasted Lamas for the satire, of course, and irate Irish fans still have not left his Twitter notifications. But Lamas knew what he was in for.
“I think maybe it’s drawn a little bit more attention to myself,” he said. “I wasn’t really planning on it to get attention. I was kind of just doing it to throw it out there. I was kind of bored waiting around for a fight and we decided to put that together. He talks so bad about everyone else, I thought I’d give him a little of his own medicine.”
Lamas (15-3) has his fight now and it’s a big one. He’ll take on Chad Mendes in the main event of UFC Fight Night 63 on Saturday morning in Fairfax, Va. Mendes is ranked No. 1 among UFC featherweight contenders and Lamas is No. 4. The winner will put himself in very good standing in the division, perhaps in line for a title shot.
The way Lamas figures it, he might be better off if Aldo beats McGregor and retains his belt at UFC 189 on July 11 in Las Vegas. And not because Lamas and McGregor don’t like each other.
“As far as who’s a better matchup or what, I don’t really care about that,” Lamas said. “It’s whoever is holding the belt. But I think just from the standpoint of me actually fighting for the title after that, it would make more sense if Aldo won, because if McGregor wins that fight I’m almost positive they’ll have an automatic rematch. Aldo has been champ for way too long for that not to happen. If McGregor would win, that would throw everybody out of the mix for another three to six months.”
Lamas, 32, has already fallen to Aldo back at UFC 169 in February 2014. He rebounded last June by defeating Hacran Dias by unanimous decision. Then, in November, Lamas might have pulled off the biggest win of his career, submitting rising prospect Dennis Bermudez in the first round with a guillotine.
Lamas was the underdog in that fight against a less established name and he’s the underdog again versus Mendes — by more than 3-to-1. That’s a role the Chicago native has more than embraced.
“I’m just used to it,” Lamas said. “I really don’t care what other people’s opinions are of who they think is going to win the fight. The fight is decided between the two guys that are inside the Octagon, not by the media watching from the outside.
“I’ve gone into most of my fights as the underdog and come out the winner. This one will be no different.”
Win or lose, there is probably a date with McGregor looming at some point. Lamas doesn’t care about “The Notorious” either way. He just gets a kick out of the fact that his parody video might have ticked McGregor off.
“I think that means we can’t be friends,” Lamas said with a laugh.