https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNizPKzpth8?t=59m33s
If you expected Conor McGregor to lose some of his swagger following a 10th round TKO at the hands of Floyd Mayweather, you don’t know Conor McGregor. The Irish UFC champion showed up for the post-fight press conference decked out in another one of his unique tailored suits with a bottle of whiskey in one hand and a glass in the other. The only break he took from talking was when he stopped to take another sip.
“Was a good fight,” McGregor said with a laugh. “Thought I smoked him in the early rounds. Thought I bushed you up the early rounds! But I tell you what, you’re one composed individual. You didn’t get rattled. You tucked in when you needed to tuck in. You switched up your gameplan three times. You came out looking to box. I thought you were out-boxed early on. … Three game changes in the fight, that’s what a true champion does, much respect. You came with it. I gotta give respect to that.”
“I would have liked to see the end of the tenth,” he said, referencing the ref’s decision to step in and stop the fight. “Fatigue, it’s like a patch, there’s a patch somewhere in the middle of fights, even with the Diaz 2 fight. I have this patch that I have to overcome, I get a bit wobbly but it’s more fatigue. If you look at the Diaz fight I came through that, came back for round four, round five. I would have liked to see the end of round ten and seen where it brought us.”
“But hell of a competitor. Switched it up, kept the pressure. You gotta take your hat off to Floyd. Congratulations. It was a good fight, it was a bit of fun. … He’s very composed, picks his shots very well, bounces shots off himself very well and hides himself well. I believe he was hurt a few times but he keeps his composure and doesn’t show it. Look, I enjoyed it. I hope you all enjoyed it. It was a fun fight.”
As for the difference between MMA and boxing?
“The check is alright,” McGregor declared. “The check’s not bad. But I’ve already been raising the MMA checks, so don’t get it twisted. I’m gonna raise the MMA checks when I go back there. I don’t know what the f**k the difference is but it’s different. It’s very different. It’s just a little more cleaner or something. But I enjoyed it very very much, it was an honor for me to come over onto the boxing side and showcase my skills.”
“I know there was a lot of disrespect and disregard for my skill. I’m a multiple weight free fighting world champion, I was a little taken aback by the disrespect and disregard that I was shown. In fairness, Floyd and his team never showed that disrespect. It was just the overall, everyone else. And it was almost like a jealousy thing so I just got over it. But the disrespect for my skill set was … it took me back a bit. But I always knew when the fight came around on August 26th I’m going to show up and give a good account of myself. ”
Much respect between these two. @FloydMayweather & @TheNotoriousMMA put on a show #MayweatherMcGregor pic.twitter.com/Q2nek4jpC8
— UFC (@ufc) August 27, 2017
“I thought I’d put him out there and I went to put him out, and I believe the first couple of shots flustered him and I hit him a few times but then he started reading it and then he started parrying the shots well, he had a good strong parry on his lead hand. He dipped low, caught the body shots well, when he started engaging his right hand to the body, I thought it was very well. I enjoyed the fight. It was a great contest. And a lot of stuff I’ll take with me in my training.”
As for what’s next, McGregor didn’t sound like someone ready to stop fighting now that he’s filthy rich.
“People ask me what’s next, I’m not quite sure. I’ve got multiple titles in the UFC to think about, and I could also continue in the boxing game. So what’s next for me is to study and continue to learn. I’m a student of martial arts and fighting as a whole. I’ve studied everyone in the game in all games including Floyd. And it was an honor to share the ring with him and get up close and personal. I feel I held my own really, I feel it was close. I feel it was 5-4 heading into round ten. I would have liked getting to the bell to see what was what.”
https://twitter.com/mikedyce/status/901705677726289920
“I’m young, I’m fresh, and I’m ready,” he said. “I was just tired in there, I feel. He caught me with some nice shots but I wasn’t dazed or rattled or anything like that. I was just bollocksed, is the term we call it in Ireland. So we’ll see what happens. I’m gonna hit Ibiza, a childhood friend is getting married, I’m going to charter out a 100 foot yacht for the day, f**k that paying for the whole thing, the whole whack. And just rally for a day, have a big party on it, take a load of pictures, and then get the f**k off it. That’s my plan. And then we’ll see what’s next.”
“I’m certainly open to hearing what WME-IMG wants, and what Showtime wants. And if they want me to come over to boxing again, then we can talk. … I have many contenders in the mixed martial arts game. I have a trilogy fight with Nate Diaz that’s sitting there. I have options. I’ll see what’s what. I’m here to fight. I’m certainly fresh. I’m certainly fresh to fight. I was not badly damaged there. It was fatigue. So we’ll see what’s next. We’ll see what offers come on the table.”
