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• MCGREGOR BOXES TRASH TALKER HOW TO

"When you see someone who makes all the money and is winning the big fights, someone who really thrives under the bright lights, it's easy to get jealous," Stann says. Over and over again he was labeled a fraud, his detractors convinced his facade would finally crumble.Ĭonor McGregor raises a fist during the UFC 205 press conference at Madison Square Garden on September 27, 2016, in New York City. Each opponent was sure he was the man to expose what many considered an artificial construct of the UFC machine. But he was a good fighter, even from the beginning."Įven as McGregor decimated the best the featherweight division had to offer, culminating with a 13-second knockout of longtime champion Jose Aldo in 2015, doubt lingered. "He talked so much so early in his career that a lot of fighters didn't want to give him credit. "A lot of people early on didn't give him credit because he had such a big mouth," says Din Thomas, the former UFC title contender, who now coaches welterweight champion Tyron Woodley. Every McGregor fight was preceded by a string of columns, tweets and comments about how this would be the moment he finally met his match. Success has bred skepticism, especially as McGregor faced a succession of fighters well suited for his style and skill set-fellow strikers unlikely to expose his ground game-traditionally the aspect of mixed martial arts most likely to trip up a European fighter without access to top-level international grapplers. Which begs the question: Really? Does Conor McGregor really, kind of, sorta, deserve a place in the discussion? Could he really be the greatest of all time? Get on the bandwagon, because it's real." "He is every bit as big as anyone who has come before him," says Chael Sonnen, a fighter from UFC rival Bellator who blazed a trail for McGregor's aggressive brand of trash talk. Hell, even the most hallowed name in history-Ali-gets quietly whispered in conjunction with that of the bold Irishman.

MCGREGOR BOXES TRASH TALKER HOW TO

He's a commodity who knows how to sell himself as well as anyone who's ever stepped into a ring to fight. He's a perfect product for the age of social media. I don't see him."Īnd yet, if you ask around the fighting world about who's the greatest, you get broad agreement that McGregor was made for this era. If I wasn't here, this whole ship goes down. "I'm the reason we're even here in the first place.

Even lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez-the calm veteran of dozens of fights around the globe, the man many thought would be immune to McGregor's mind games-was muttering to himself after a recent conference call to promote their lightweight title fight Saturday at Madison Square Garden. And no one makes opponents angrier than McGregor, the reigning featherweight champion. Many a fighter has been skewered on the sword of his own anger. There's no in-between with Conor." - BRIAN STANN, UFC ANALYSTĪnger is anathema to effective fighting. "He's a guy who comes with the bravado to sell tickets and make people love him or hate him. McGregor, he says, is especially good at finding his foes' secret fears and triggers, grabbing with both hands and squeezing. The slightest doubt can have an inordinate impact when the bell rings. Fighting, Fox's Stann says, is a surprisingly mental occupation. He has a gift, not just of making fans and haters alike laugh, but of spitting brutal truths that seem to give opponents pause. It just builds and builds and builds."Īs great as he has been under the bright lights, McGregor's press appearances have been equally memorable. If you are surrounded by your competition and you are outworking these people, outmaneuvering these people, it's hard not to let your confidence take over. It's hard to be humble when you're the best," McGregor told Bleacher Report last year.

There's always that hint of arrogance there. "Any top-level athlete, it's always the same. McGregor didn't just win fights he told opponents all about it while the bout was still in progress. It was preceded, more often than not, by egregious taunting and talk. He embarrassed opponents, both verbally before the bout and physically in the cage, where his left hand soon became one of the most feared weapons in the sport. (Getty Images)Īfter his knockout victory over Diego Brandao in his third fight that 2014 night in Dublin, McGregor's boast of, "We're not just here to take part, we're here to take over," sounded less like blind hope and more like a promise.

Conor McGregor celebrates after his TKO victory over Diego Brandao in their featherweight bout during the UFC Fight Night event at The O2 Dublin on July 19, 2014, in Dublin, Ireland.