McGregor at Post Fight Press Conference: ”I’m Mr. Weight Class”.

Conor McGregor wasted no time in the octagon at UFC 249 in Las Vegas in the early hours of Saturday morning. It took the former double champion just :40 seconds to defeat UFC veteran Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone. In that short spell McGregor looked massively impressive, landing big shots in the clinch. The finishing sequence ended with a McGregor left high kick which stunned Cerrone. That was followed by some precise ground and pound until referee Herb Dean had seen enough.  In victory, “The Notorious” became the first man to hold knockout wins in the featherweight, lightweight and welterweight divisions. 

“I’m Mr. weight class”, speaking about his jump through the weight classes. “I’ve gone through three divisions now. It’s just about commitment, that’s it. Just commit and just do what you know you need to do, and that’s it. Tonights my night but I’m no different to[any man]. All I did was put in the work. We know the work that we need to do but sometimes we just don’t do it”.

“You know when you say you’ve got to do this[train] and you know you’ve got to to it. But then you don’t do it and it is like a mini defeat. Those add up and then your lack of interest to go and it[train] actually wanes, you can get injured, those types of things[interfere with training]. For me it’s just about recognising what needs to be done and do it strictly. That leads me towards being able to enjoy it more, that’s basically what happened this fight camp”.

Speaking about the fight itself McGregor analysed the fight for the waiting media members.

“I did come out[quickly] and I let that left hand go from the chamber. The force of him[Cerrone] dipping and me connecting with him with my hip even was a shot in itself. I’d probably put that down to me being 15 months outside of the octagon. I overstepped the shot just a little bit and i knew Donald would attempt to go under the left hand. He has done that to the former champion in the 170 division, Robbie Lawlor and secured takedowns.”

“They say look out for the left hand, now they’ll have to say look out for the left shoulder.” McGregor seemed happy with his shoulder shots from the clinch that seemed to have broken Cerrone’s nose during the opening exchange. 

“The so called experts of the game who break down my skills, they say that I’ve only got a left hand which is highly disrespectful and uneducated. I’m surprised at some of the supposedly knowledgeable people claiming at as just that\. It’s a good shot in the clinch, ypu can really catch a man. I knew I caught him with the first one off guard and then I caught him with one or two more. When we separated his nose and his eye was busted. It was a good shot, I have utilised it many times in the gym.” 

To hear McGregor breakdown his victory further click on the video link below. He also speaks on who his next opponents could be down the line, possible future endeavours in the boxing ring and his opinion on the Kamaru Usman Twitter hack and his disapproval of Jorge Masvidals’ outfit choice. McGregor come out at the 54:00 mark of the video.

Ian O'Neill is the host of the SevereMMA UFC Preview show and one of the co-hosts of The Auld Triangle - Irish MMA podcast. You can find more of Ian's work on the SevereMMA Patreon where he co-hosts The Chasing Pack and The Contender. Follow him on Twitter and on Instagram @ioneillmma

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