Following an emphatic victory at UFC 246, Conor McGregor downplays his losses to Khabib Nurmagomedov and Floyd Mayweather Jr.
The former featherweight and lightweight champion made a successful return on Saturday after knocking out Donald Cerrone in the first round of their welterweight clash in Las Vegas.
The victory ended a three-year drought, which saw ‘The Notorious’ suffered disappointing losses in two of the biggest fights of his career.
Back in August 2017, the Irishman crossed the bridge and fought Mayweather Jr in the most lucrative combat sports fight in history.
There he was defeated by the boxing legend in the tenth round by way of technical knockout.
A year later, he tussled with the Russian champion in the main event of UFC 229, with the lightweight title on the line.
McGregor was submitted in the fourth round by a neck crank and remained winless in three years.
Good To Be Back
Speaking to ESPN’s Ariel Helwani after his UFC 246 win, McGregor takes pride of his previous losses, claiming he was ‘never really beaten’ by his opponents.
“Come on, I lost bleeding twice,” McGregor said, (transcript from BJPenn.com).
“I lost in a boxing match and then I tapped in an MMA fight. I’ve never really been beaten, let’s be real. You’ve never seen me beat, do you know what I mean?”
“You beat a man by concussing him with blows to the nut, putting him down.”
“Two matches… that narrative of ‘so long since a win.”
“I’ve been outside the game and sporadic with my commitment to it, but it’s good to be back, most certainly though.”
The UFC’s biggest draw declared he is back in the business and looks forward to fighting the top guys in the welterweight class.
Very Pleased
Continuing, ‘The Notorious’ admitted his fight with Cerrone could have gone in many ways but he was to happy to catch the veteran fighter with a head kick.
“I just wanted to go through him with the first shot.”
“He dipped under — he didn’t shoot, he just dipped under — fair play to him.”
“I’m happy with the fight. It could have gone many ways. He was planning to head-kick me.”
“He wanted to knock me out with a head-kick, so I’m happy to catch him. I knew he had flaws with that in his own game.”
“What a record he has, to have the most head-kick knockouts.”
“It’s a phenomenal record, so to catch him with the head-kick, Im very, very pleased.”
McGregor now currently holds a 22-4 win-loss record and is looking to return to the cage before summer.
(Featured Image Source: Instagram/ Floyd Mayweather, Conor McGregor, and Khabib Nurmagomedov)