UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor believes Floyd Mayweather Jr. has some “strong tools” that’d enable him to be a success in MMA.
McGregor had his first professional boxing fight on Saturday against the iconic Mayweather, but he was stopped…
UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor believes Floyd Mayweather Jr. has some “strong tools” that’d enable him to be a success in MMA.
McGregor had his first professional boxing fight on Saturday against the iconic Mayweather, but he was stopped in the 10th round. In an Instagram post on Thursday discussing all aspects of the contest, the Irishman paid tribute to his opponent and his abilities as a fighter:
“I always told him he was not a fighter but a boxer,” said McGregor. “But sharing the ring with him he is certainly a solid fighter. Strong in the clinch. Great understanding of frames and head position. He has some very strong tools he could bring into an MMA game for sure.”
This article will be updated to provide more information on this story as it becomes available.
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Conor McGregor is willing to face Nate Diaz for a third time, but it has to be at lightweight. McGregor is coming off a “Money Fight” against Floyd Mayweather. McGregor suffered a 10th round TKO loss to “Money” inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Many are now wondering what the Ultimate Fighting Championship […]
Conor McGregor is willing to face Nate Diaz for a third time, but it has to be at lightweight. McGregor is coming off a “Money Fight” against Floyd Mayweather. McGregor suffered a 10th round TKO loss to “Money” inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Many are now wondering what the Ultimate Fighting Championship […]
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Mike Tyson is giving Conor McGregor high praise for his performance against Floyd Mayweather. On Aug. 26, McGregor took on Mayweather inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Mayweather won the bout via 10th round TKO. Many fans and analysts gave McGregor credit for making the fight more competitive than expected. During a recent […]
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Conor McGregor certainly achieved a great amount of success in his boxing match with all-time legend Floyd Mayweather last weekend from Las Vegas, as the MMA superstar was able to land more punches on the elusive great than many world-class boxers had against “Money.” But ultimately he succumbed to a tenth-round TKO after he faded badly […]
Conor McGregor certainly achieved a great amount of success in his boxing match with all-time legend Floyd Mayweather last weekend from Las Vegas, as the MMA superstar was able to land more punches on the elusive great than many world-class boxers had against “Money.”
But ultimately he succumbed to a tenth-round TKO after he faded badly and Mayweather poured on the pressure, and regardless of if you felt the stoppage by referee Robert Byrd was early or not, McGregor clearly had little left in the tank in the later rounds. He admitted as much after the fight, and it was hardly a surprise to hear him talk about returning to the octagon before the year is over – if his medical suspension is able to be surpassed.
When he does, the clear frontrunner for his next MMA bout is his oft-discussed trilogy bout with rival Nate Diaz after the two split a pair of record-grossing classics at UFC 196 and 202 last year.
“The Notorious” has already begun sowing the seeds of the bout in the media, and he recently took discussion of the fight to a new level in an interview with BBC News (via BJPenn.com), declaring that Diaz would have to cut down to 155 pounds where he holds the title after they met at 170 pounds in their two original bouts:
“I’m the 155-pound champion. I faced him at 170, he beat me, then I rematched him at 170, I beat him. Now I’m the 155-pound world champion, now if he wants that fight, he must come down — that’s a fair trade. I didn’t ask for the rematch at a lower weight, I asked for the rematch at the exact same weight. I thought that was a fair play move on my behalf and I came in and I won. So, now I won that and I won the 155 title after that, so if he wants the fight he has to make that 155-pound limit.”
Photo by Joshua Dahl for USA TODAY Sports
It’s far from a surprise to hear McGregor insist Diaz has to meet him in the division he currently rules over (although some fight fans would say it’s a surprise) because the major advantage many felt Diaz had over McGregor was size. The Stockton star has had trouble making the 155-pound limit before, most recently in his late 2014 loss to former champion Rafael dos Anjos, a fight before which he said he was significantly injured.
McGregor vs. Diaz II was a bout that was going to made eventually no matter what, and putting the title on the line will make it the biggest fight the UFC has on the table right now. It’d be a perfect headliner for the New Year’s Eve weekend card on December 30, and would almost assuredly deliver the biggest pay-per-view numbers in a year that has been painfully short of just that thanks to McGregor’s absence from MMA.
Diaz may not want to cut down to lightweight at this point in his career, but taking into account the payday he would receive and the fact that it appears to be the only fight he’s willing to return to MMA for, it’s going to happen sometime, and most likely sometime soon.
You want to know something weird? Conor McGregor isn’t beloved by everyone in Ireland.
McGregor is almost certainly the most famous athlete in the history of the country. Nobody comes close, really. But instead of being beloved and accepted by ev…
You want to know something weird? Conor McGregor isn’t beloved by everyone in Ireland.
McGregor is almost certainly the most famous athlete in the history of the country. Nobody comes close, really. But instead of being beloved and accepted by everyone of all age groups, McGregor is polarizing. He is divisive, and the divide is largely along age lines.
Two years ago, I went to Dublin to try to get a sense of the place that helped mold and create him. I discovered two groups: those who love him unconditionally and those who believe his attitude and antics make him a poor representative of the country. The younger generation loves McGregor. The older folks believe he could carry himself a lot better, to be a better representative for his home.
After his loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. last weekend in Las Vegas, I have to wonder if the Irish elders’ view of McGregor might be changing.
If not, it should. There may be no better winner in all of sport than McGregor. And there is certainly no better loser.
Leading up to a fight, he’s brash, bold and arrogant to the point of being insufferable. Though the hardcore McGregorites will continue to fawn over anything he says or does no matter how far over the line he may go, there does seem to come a point for the rest of us where enough is just enough.
My personal breaking point came on Day 3 of the seemingly never-ending World Tour the pair embarked on to build hype for the fight. That was when I understood the point a Dublin cab driver tried to make to me two years ago.
“He’s got all the talent in the world,” the driver told me. “We just wish he’d carry himself a little differently. You understand?”
I did, but I didn’t.
I do now.
All that pre-fight bravado and buffoonery vanishes after the ending of a McGregor fight, though. In losing to Mayweather, McGregor was again gracious and respectful. You could visibly see the pre-fight veneer he’d constructed melt away. In its place was a fighter thankful for the opportunity to step in the ring with such a renowned boxer. He was grateful for the chance to prove the doubters wrong.
To prove he belonged.
(Warning: Video contains NSFW language)
In a sport where so few athletes are willing to give their opponents due credit, McGregor stands alone for his willingness to help build back up what he spent so much time tearing down. He makes no excuses about injuries nobody knows about. In fact, when he was preparing to face late replacement Chad Mendes—who stepped in for Jose Aldo at UFC 189 the first time the pair was scheduled to fight—McGregor was hiding a nasty ACL injury suffered while training with Rory MacDonald.
And even after finishing Mendes, he made no mention of the injury. It would be some time before he’d even confirm it, and even then he downplayed the significance.
Every fighter deals with some sort of injury going into every fight. It is the nature of the sport. The human body simply can’t stand up to the rigors of a full-time training camp without suffering some sort of trauma, no matter how supremely conditioned you may be. But McGregor is one of the few who refuses to use wear and tear or even significant injuries as an excuse for a loss.
In victory, McGregor is just as magnanimous, and sometimes even sorrowful. Witness his words to Aldo moments after their years-long feud came to an end in just 13 shocking seconds.
“I’m sorry,” McGregor said. “We’ll go again. And again.”
McGregor has revolutionized mixed martial arts in profound ways, ways that will forever alter the landscape of what we once thought possible on the business side of things. Generations of future fighters have a new gold standard to model themselves after when it comes to business acumen and maximizing their earning potential. He has broken through the glass ceiling and continues to venture into uncharted territories.
But those same generations of future fighters—and the ones currently plying their trade in today’s UFC and Bellator—can also learn a lot from McGregor about being a professional when the fight is over. The quickest way to lose the respect of the fans is to make excuses for your performance and your loss.
The quickest way to earn it is by doing what McGregor does, by taking responsibility for what happened, by giving your opponent the respect they deserve and by moving forward and learning from the knowledge you gleaned in defeat.
UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor believes Floyd Mayweather Jr. has some “strong tools” that’d enable him to be a success in MMA. 