CONOR MCGREGOR INSISTS the punch that ended his fight with Dustin Poirier after a minute and 48 seconds last night in Vegas was within the rules of the UFC.
“Look a little closer because it was a right hook that clipped above the ear,” McGregor said when questioned at the official press conference afterwards. ”It was to the back but as long as it’s above the ear… if it’s above the ear but behind the ear that’s a clean blow.
“I had a discussion with [UFC official] Herb Dean before the fight. I would have liked to connect with the chin but there’s so much soft, beautiful tissue there that if you crack that little soft area there’s no coming back from that.
“So look a little closer, it was a legal shot and that was that.”
He continued: “I fell into it a little bit. Looking back I didn’t like it. I double-jabbed and I kind of fell into it. I threw one before that where I just left the left hook ping. I didn’t move my body too much but I just cracked him. That was the one that hurt him.
“But the one that finished him I just fell into it a little bit but it hit him with the fist at the back of the head but above the ear which is a legal blow. At the end of the day it was a clean shot and that was that.
“For me, I don’t like the way people look at the referee. He [Poirier] didn’t get up and complain, he knew it was a clean shot. If I got knocked out that way, I wouldn’t be up here saying it was an illegal blow, I would recognise I was knocked out and that was that.”
The pre-fight build-up had plenty of heat with the American insisting he ‘hated’ McGregor. The SBG athlete, for his part, insisted this was just business.
“Dustin is a good kid,” said McGregor, “I had no ill feeling towards Dustin. It was weird to me that he was like ‘I’ve never hated anyone as much as him in my life’ or whatever he said. To me that is weird. I can not hate the man that has the same dreams as me and I have no emotions for him at the end of the day. I’m on my journey so he’s a humble guy, he came to fight and I have nothing but respect for these competitors.
“Because make no mistake: I am cocky in prediction, I am confident in preparation but I ma always humble in victory or defeat. So I am humble here and grateful for the opportunity the UFC have given me.”
McGregor got his hands on the belt after the fight on the Fox TV studio and it’s clear he has his sights set on a title fight. But he’ll take what’s put in front of him by UFC matchmakers.
“As long as we show up and my cheque is what it says it’s going to be, then we show up and I will kill whoever they put in front of me. Of course I want that gold belt. Don’t tell that golden belt wouldn’t look great along side this ivory elephant trunk suit that I have got on my right now.
“It would look perfect. I know Dana wants to see it. I know Lorenzo wants to see it. Shout out to Uncle Frank, I know he wants to see it. It’s what the fans want, it’s what I want.”
You would lose before ye even get into a ring if you weren’t confident and sure of yourself, it is essential if you are a fighter to have self belief. ‘If you believe,’ this confidence and conviction can rub off on the whole country.
Dustin Poirier is a fine athlete but he looked really unsettled ever before he got in the ring. I think it really showed how much McGregor had gotten to him. If it wasn’t for the head games it might have been a much better contest. Excellent to see an Irish fighter perform so well on a world stage. The man has really taken the UFC by storm. Something tells me he’ll have his title fight (and win it) very soon.
Just what this country needs, a lot more of the same confident can do attitude, instead of the constant whinging which achieves absolutely nothing,there is still no substitution for dedication and hard work.
I don’t think the the first round knockout would do him any good, think he needed a solid 2-3 rounds just to gain more experience etc, disapointed with justins performance ,in real time it looked savage but in slow mo the connections were not great, but roll on the next fight , i like mcgregor and hope he does well ,
Bud he was outclassed big time and no fix.. Dustin got a belt he didn’t expect and he didn’t like going down like that so far from a fix that’s for sure..
Gary, stop it good lad, you know nothing about me. You’re just embarrassing yourself.
Thetruth, I call it as I see it. I watched all the fights live this morning. Conor’s ‘fight’ stood out from them all for the strangeness of it. No real contact made like his last fight yet his opponents go ground. I’ve got experience in boxing and 2 forms of martial arts. I know contact when I see it. It’s not there in either of his last two fights.
Look, I’d love is this was real. It would be great for us and a great sport to get behind. But it’s a sham and a shame.
Sorry i don’t buy your story. If you’ve experienced martial arts or boxing you will notice something very glaring about the fight. Poirier.went for a take down, left his head with open and made a rookie error. You do that its fight over
This is it in slow motion.
Any fighter, never mind someone of poit’s experience and rank would let this happen to himself. He goes to the ground not even protecting himself and Conor doesn’t even try to connect with him.
Conor misses him with a left and right while poit is bent over. Then he falls to the ground. That ‘blow’ to the back of his head doesnt even make proper contact.
This set of actions, frame by frame is consitant with simulation. To not fight back and to go to the ground like that not covering yourself is so odd it makes no sense. You would only do that if you knew your opponent wasn’t going to hurt you.
Look at it another way
Conor is and pro and he didn’t land one single punch to a guy that put up no defense whatsoever.
Jesus, it plain to see.
Jason, I just watched the full fight again and maybe you should too. DP threw plenty of powerful combinations to McGregors head and some landed. If it was set to be a fix then DP would have only thrown body shots, leg kicks and jabs and definitely not haymakers followed by uppercuts. I’m sure he’s not that good an actor.
See how Dustin’s arms go limp for a second before he drops. He gets up and off camera Joe rogan is saying he’s swaying back and forth. I watched the slow motion shot and what it looks like is that McGregor’s hand pops up after the shot with real force.
i dunno how you can think it’s fixed. I was skeptical before this fight as to how good Mcgregor was. There will be no “FIX” when he fights Mendez or Edgar. You seem to be talking a little too much and again begrudging one of our own!!!
The training aspect isn’t relevant really. Have you seen how athletic a top pro wrestler is and how often they train? As Brock Lesner said himself. “If you think wrestling is fake, come to my ring and let me do some fake moves on you” Wrestling is athletic entertainment. This is MMA entertainment.
It’s amazing how few weeks ago everyone was giving out that he was to cocky! Think it’s time ta shut up and follow a through athlete!!! Not often we get them #embrace
Haha! Ever heard of Don King? Boxing is respected and plays a part in MMA while Boxers dis mma because they are afraid to embrace other forms of combat.
Rule is that if there’s contact with the ear it’s all good. Funny how the closest neutral person to it didn’t even give a warning and he is probably the second best ref in mma
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Rumour has it that Frank Feighan wants to to fight Conor McGregor in the Aviva……
By the looks of things Feighan is a grappler..oh and he’s trained for years in spoofing and ring licking..McGregor beware!
“I whoop people for truckloads of cash”
The man is a legend
He has a fine sized ego.
He has to.
Its not a job for the meek.
You would lose before ye even get into a ring if you weren’t confident and sure of yourself, it is essential if you are a fighter to have self belief. ‘If you believe,’ this confidence and conviction can rub off on the whole country.
Dustin Poirier is a fine athlete but he looked really unsettled ever before he got in the ring. I think it really showed how much McGregor had gotten to him. If it wasn’t for the head games it might have been a much better contest. Excellent to see an Irish fighter perform so well on a world stage. The man has really taken the UFC by storm. Something tells me he’ll have his title fight (and win it) very soon.
He came he trained he delivered what he said he would and he’s class… Can’t fault him in fairness.. He’s pure hungry and plays the game 100%
Just what this country needs, a lot more of the same confident can do attitude, instead of the constant whinging which achieves absolutely nothing,there is still no substitution for dedication and hard work.
Would he beat twink though?
I would probably prefer a hiding from McGregor, Twink is nuts.
I hope Baldy starts to move up the rankings!!! Would be great to see him and McGregor sell out Croke Park!!!
Nothing wrong with the punch. Poiriers defence was poor
I don’t think the the first round knockout would do him any good, think he needed a solid 2-3 rounds just to gain more experience etc, disapointed with justins performance ,in real time it looked savage but in slow mo the connections were not great, but roll on the next fight , i like mcgregor and hope he does well ,
Was saying the same thing. He needs a war to silence any remaining doubters. Great card last night
” I would of liked to connect with the chin but there’s so much soft beautiful tissue there”
Ok….it puts the lotion in the basket!!
Fix
Bud he was outclassed big time and no fix.. Dustin got a belt he didn’t expect and he didn’t like going down like that so far from a fix that’s for sure..
Egg fuel, it looked like a dive. Just like his last fight.
I wish him the best but not this rigged nonsense.
You’re spouting that fix nonsense all morning. What do you want him to do
David, so one of your likes on your Facebook page is soccer, now that’s a “sport” that is fixed. I use the word sport very loosely.
Thetruth, Jason is one of those guys who grew up playing with skipping ropes and doesn’t understand physical sports. Ignore the blouse.
Gary, stop it good lad, you know nothing about me. You’re just embarrassing yourself.
Thetruth, I call it as I see it. I watched all the fights live this morning. Conor’s ‘fight’ stood out from them all for the strangeness of it. No real contact made like his last fight yet his opponents go ground. I’ve got experience in boxing and 2 forms of martial arts. I know contact when I see it. It’s not there in either of his last two fights.
Look, I’d love is this was real. It would be great for us and a great sport to get behind. But it’s a sham and a shame.
If you had experience you’d realise poirier went for a take down he didn’t hit the ground he went to grab a leg and anyone with eyes saw it
Jason u wouldn’t know ur Arsehole from breakfast time lad…. Cheers for ur Shite anyway troller
Sorry i don’t buy your story. If you’ve experienced martial arts or boxing you will notice something very glaring about the fight. Poirier.went for a take down, left his head with open and made a rookie error. You do that its fight over
Lads, please.
http://youtu.be/-vDamioGs4c
This is it in slow motion.
Any fighter, never mind someone of poit’s experience and rank would let this happen to himself. He goes to the ground not even protecting himself and Conor doesn’t even try to connect with him.
In my opinion it’s a fix.
Conor misses him with a left and right while poit is bent over. Then he falls to the ground. That ‘blow’ to the back of his head doesnt even make proper contact.
This set of actions, frame by frame is consitant with simulation. To not fight back and to go to the ground like that not covering yourself is so odd it makes no sense. You would only do that if you knew your opponent wasn’t going to hurt you.
Look at it another way
Conor is and pro and he didn’t land one single punch to a guy that put up no defense whatsoever.
Jesus, it plain to see.
Jason and I was part of the welcoming committee on the moon when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed there in ’69. Now go back to your skipping.
Again you say you’re experienced. You are not. If you were experienced you’d clearly see the left hand on the ear
Jason, I just watched the full fight again and maybe you should too. DP threw plenty of powerful combinations to McGregors head and some landed. If it was set to be a fix then DP would have only thrown body shots, leg kicks and jabs and definitely not haymakers followed by uppercuts. I’m sure he’s not that good an actor.
Jason your tin foil hat is in the post
I’m not saying it was a fix but Poirier didn’t go for a take down. Both hands dropped to the floor.
Why fix it? Is mcgregor that much of a meal ticket for ufc, that they would throw their whole sport into dispute for?
See how Dustin’s arms go limp for a second before he drops. He gets up and off camera Joe rogan is saying he’s swaying back and forth. I watched the slow motion shot and what it looks like is that McGregor’s hand pops up after the shot with real force.
i dunno how you can think it’s fixed. I was skeptical before this fight as to how good Mcgregor was. There will be no “FIX” when he fights Mendez or Edgar. You seem to be talking a little too much and again begrudging one of our own!!!
Is this not glorified wrestling?
No.
Go train with them.for a week and come back and give us your answer
The training aspect isn’t relevant really. Have you seen how athletic a top pro wrestler is and how often they train? As Brock Lesner said himself. “If you think wrestling is fake, come to my ring and let me do some fake moves on you” Wrestling is athletic entertainment. This is MMA entertainment.
That’s some fine trolling Joe
All sport is entertainment…
Conor Mc Gregor earns his place he can talk the talk.. And walk the walk.. Doing Ireland proud…
“I whoop people for truckloads of cash. How could I hate this life? I love this life.” Ha ha ha what a header!
It’s amazing how few weeks ago everyone was giving out that he was to cocky! Think it’s time ta shut up and follow a through athlete!!! Not often we get them #embrace
What ever happened to boxing? This is Show business.. fill the Aviva they said €€€€€€€
Haha! Ever heard of Don King? Boxing is respected and plays a part in MMA while Boxers dis mma because they are afraid to embrace other forms of combat.
If there’s a fight in the aviva no doubt it’ll piss rain..
No matter what, Conor McGregor is flying the Irish flag. He’s doing the country proud. Everyone should support him.
Very play conor. It’s also great to see an Irish sportsman with style.
anyone know where I can rewatch the fight online?
Yeah do a search for PrideOnTheRise on Facebook
Under pages, it’ll show up as pride of the warrior
got it. cheers
Or on 3e tonight
He needs the shit kicked out of him to bring him back down off his ego….
Go on and give it a go there
Why don’t you come out from behind your mammy’s skirt and ask him for a straightener
don’t fret jack, it’s coming. nothing like seeing a good ego shit kicking.
Tough man….tough sport….punch a man in the back of the head when on the ground….jokeshop
Fool
Rule is that if there’s contact with the ear it’s all good. Funny how the closest neutral person to it didn’t even give a warning and he is probably the second best ref in mma
A very good fighter. Just look at how loose he was in the cage. No one has ever done that to Porier in the first round.
Well the fight last nite was a fix because the knock out punch hardly connected with his man.
You sir are an idiot
What’s the belt about , is he a black belt in something?
Sbg brown belt
But hes a 3 times black belt
Jiu jitsu brown belt which he earned before the fight.
Ye ballet dancing
If you are such a big fellow Soctt how about you go up to Conor and comment on his ballet dancing? Thought not.