Conor McGregor – The Many Excuses of The Mac

As we said, honourable, exciting, but after the loss, don’t make an excuse.

UFC 202 –  “I even had to fight a guy three times the size of me”

This is a case of Conor McGregor not even losing a fight, however, seemingly blowing his own horn (who’d have thought it) about just how big of an achievement his win over Nate Diaz was. At UFC 202, the two men faced off in a rematch and this time, the Irishman came away with a victory in an instant classic. The two men traded blows for a full 25 minutes and it was McGregor this time that came away with his hand raised.

In an interview after the fight, McGregor complained about Diaz being ‘three times the size’ of him in their fight. This, as we know, is factually incorrect. For context, although Diaz is taller than McGregor, he only has 3 inch height disadvantage and a 2 inch reach disadvantage. The weight of the two men was comparatively similar on weigh-in day also.

Loss to Floyd Mayweather – “I turned him into a Mexican”

The build-up to Floyd Mayweather vs Conor McGregor was always going to be offensive on the side of both men. After the bout, however, the loser on the night coined an interesting phrase when talking to ShowTime.

Conor McGregor would go on to state that “I turned him into a Mexican” and that Mayweather “Fought like a Mexican tonight”, suggesting that the reason that he lost was due to the American’s complete turnaround in fighting style.

Mayweather made a name for himself in boxing (once he’d switched from Pretty Boy to Money Mayweather) as one of the greatest defensive boxers of all time. He was able to expertly avoid shots from his foes whilst equally making them pay for their misses.

Against McGregor, however, this wasn’t the case. He was far more on the front foot, landing 152 of 261 of his power punches. Fatiguing McGregor, Mayweather recorded an emphatic tenth round knockout.

UFC 229 – The Biggest Fight in MMA History

The bitter grudge match. Finally, we’d have the return of the Mac after almost two years out of the UFC octagon, Conor McGregor would be returning to action to not only try and get his lightweight title back, but also to beat his bitter rival, Khabib Nurmagomedov.

In McGregor’s absence, Khabib had captured the vacant belt and was set for his first defence. It was billed as Russia vs Ireland. Both had wild fans and both men’s personalities were a massive contrast of each other. McGregor was brash, had recently launched his whiskey brand ‘Proper Twelve’ and enjoyed the spotlight. It appeared that Khabib did not.

The fight played out how many believed it would, with the champion being able to take McGregor down, control him on the ground and ultimately force him into submission in round 4, even knocking McGregor down on the way to victory.

Following the fight came the excuses for the loss. He claimed that he was winning the fight until the trip in the fourth round; however, the stats would suggest otherwise. Khabib has clocked over 10 minutes of control time before the fourth round began, suggesting he was very much in control.

McGregor went on to claim that he entered the fight with Khabib with a broken foot. Speaking after the loss, the Irishman claimed that after sustaining the injury in sparring, “My doctor, who’s here with me now, had to come into the cage, stretch it and break it back into place. My foot swelled like a balloon”. This from a man who tore his ACL in a fight previously and continued fighting…

Dustin Poirier and the Broken Leg

A year after his last bout, McGregor would rematch Dustin Poirier after a bout they had seven years earlier. McGregor would rely on a heavy boxing style and The Diamond exposed this, battering McGregor’s leg with low kicks and eventually knocking him out in the second round.

After the loss, despite taking it well and (shockingly) being humble, McGregor claimed that it was inactivity that cost him the win.

The rematch was booked for July of the same year and yet again, it was Poirier who had his hand raised. This time, however, it came in much different fashion. McGregor would break his leg in the octagon, allowing him an ‘out’, as he claimed that he was on top in the bout and would have won if it wasn’t for the broken leg.

The excuses were a plenty, however. After the bout, he claimed, “I had stress fractures in my leg going into that cage. It was debated about pulling the thing out”. This was confirmed by his coach, John Kavanagh, after the bout.

We haven’t seen him compete since, however, when we do, and if he loses, expect a well-thought-out, logical excuse.