Conor McGregor seems to be taking a leaf out of Chael Sonnen’s book by calling out a bunch of UFC fighters in a bid to raise his profile in the organization. The up and coming Irish fighter is currently recovering from a serious knee injury that will see him side-lined for most of 2014, but that hasn’t stopped him from calling out the majority of UFC fighters in the Lightweight and Featherweight divisions.
A few fighters have wasted no time in doing a little bit of their own self-promotion by engaging in a war of words with the Irishman that has resulted in a good amount of publicity for everyone involved.
The most high profile fighter to be targeted is Diego Sanchez, who’s recent performances have been heavily criticised by McGregor. Diego wasted no time in responding to his comments by branding McGregor a “punk” and “all hype”. A couple of days ago the Irishman responded to Sanchez by saying:
The guy is a has-been. He should be in Bellator with the rest of the has-beens. There’s no doubt about it.
Conor McGregor also spoke for the first time about where the rivalry started. Many people believed that the Irishman triggered the war of words during an interview with Ariel Helwani, but the real origins of the conflict started some time before that.
Lets go back, way back to where it really started. In the lead-up to my Max Holloway fight in Boston, when I was doing all my media campaign and my media workout and all that I do. That has-been loser was all over Twitter slinging me and saying ‘who is this guy, Holloway is going to own him,’ tweet after tweet after tweet. And even then, I didn’t acknowledge it. I said, ‘that guy’s not in my path, I don’t give a s— about that guy, let him say what he wants.
After defeating Max Holloway, McGregor started looking towards his next opponent, preferably someone who was ranked in the top 10 of the UFC’s Featherweight division. At this point the Irishman was unaware that the knee injury he sustained during the fight would keep him out of action for up to a year.
I’m thinking OK who’s next, who do I want next? I want anyone and everyone in that top 10. I’m doing this interview on the top 10, and they asked me about the top 10 and I gave my honest opinion on everyone… I gave my honest opinion for guys I want to face. Excuse me for wanting to face guys in my top 10. I apologize. And then this has-been gets involved once again saying I have no respect.
At this point McGregor felt that he needed to respond to Diego Sanchez directly…
So I responded, I called him the fattest, slowest, sloppiest martial artist I’ve ever laid eyes on. I told him I’d go to 170, I’d whup his fat ass easy… He was the one who started on me. I gave my opinion on the Top 10. Nobody else. I had my eyes on the top 10. I ignored what Diego was saying in the lead-up to the Holloway fight. Then I said OK, I’ll push the top 10 aside and I’ll go after Diego Sanchez a little bit.
With the McGregor and Sanchez rivalry in full swing, UFC Middleweight Luke Barnatt decided to enter the fray by accusing McGregor of buying fake Twitter followers to increase his popularity in the UFC. The Irishman responded with complete disdain…
Silliest thing I’ve ever heard in my life. A light heavyweight eight-foot stick of s— from England, talking absolute s— that he knows nothing about. It was the weirdest s—, watching the jealousy come out of the man’s pores. A man who isn’t even in my own division. I thought it was the funniest thing ever. All I know is, when the door shut and the bell rings, no one does it better than me. I walk the walk, I don’t just talk the f— talk. I’m going to walk through that entire top 10.
UFC veteran Cole Miller also took the opportunity of calling McGregor out after his win over Andy Ogle in Manchester. Surprisingly Miller’s comments didn’t seem to rattle the Irishman too bad on this occasion as he responded by saying…
That’s a fight that’s interesting to me. Cole’s alright, I don’t mind him. This f— sport is crazy. I’m just being me.
With so much animosity in the air it’s hard not to get excited about McGregor’s return, so when can we expect to see him fight again?
Doctor says I’ll be grappling by February. That’s my prayers answered right there. I’m not a religious man, but I miss the mat so much. It’s the only thing that distracts me from everything else. Only thing that eliminates everything else is that time on the mat, studying jiu-jitsu. February is when I can be back, I can’t wait to be back.
A UFC event is planned in Dublin for May 2014 which would fit perfectly into his recovery schedule and setup a massive fight for his return. There’s no prizes for guessing who the Irishman would like to fight next and if it did happen he believes they’d be able to put on an exciting fight for the fans.
I want Mark Hunt – Bigfoot Silva s—, yeah? That’s what I want to happen. I will make that fight happen. I guarantee you, before he retires, I’m going to whup him. I’m going to school him in evasive combat.
Sanchez has a history of putting on exciting fights but only time will tell if the Irishman really can “walk the walk”.
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