Conor McGregor isn’t a man who minces his words. Already, the fighting Irishman is doubting whether Jose Aldo will show up for their scheduled bout at UFC 194 on December 12, and he's claimed after securing victory on the night, he'll move up to the lightweight division.
The pair were scheduled to fight at UFC 189 in July for the UFC featherweight title, but Aldo pulled out of the event with a rib injury. McGregor, who went on to knock out Chad Mendes on the night to secure the interim featherweight belt, told Damon Martin of FOX Sports he thinks the Brazilian didn’t really fancy it, but he’s hoping he does so this time:
If he never shows up, that's not on me—that’s on him. I do feel like this is the real belt. I feel like he was more than capable of showing up to fight. If he doesn't show up, that's not my business. I'll show up, I'll be there like I was July 11.
Of course I would like him to show up and be a man and take his beating like a man…Hopefully, he will man up and show up and relinquish the belt and be done with the career.
In an exclusive interview with TMZ, McGregor was a little more forthright when discussing the upcoming scrap with Aldo, telling his opponent “show the f--k up and let's fight.” Here’s a look at the clip in full (Warning: contains NSFW language):
As the new face of UFC, there's plenty of outlets wanting a piece of McGregor and the Irishman has discussed what his future plans might be should he deliver on his promise of beating Aldo in December.
As reported by Dave Doyle of MMAFighting.com, speaking to the press at an event in Los Angeles, McGregor revealed he was done with the featherweight division unless Frankie Edgar pulls out all of the stops to beat Mendes the night before he fights Aldo:
If Frankie was to put on a phenomenal performance and stop Chad, or maybe something like that, then I can say, alright, let's answer the Frankie question, let's shut him down real quick.
But in my mind, I'm thinking, I'm going to unify the belts, I'm going to destroy the division, and then I'm going to take the lightweight division as well. That's where I'm headed right now.
It’s a critical fight for Edgar, and the prospect of a meeting with McGregor should be something which encourages the 33-year-old to turn on the style against Mendes. As noted here by MMA History Today, Edgar is overdue for a sparkling performance to remind everyone just how good he can be:
Also in the aforementioned interview with TMZ, McGregor was hailed as the biggest thing in Ireland right now. But even he admitted he wouldn’t like to get on the wrong side of Hollywood actor Liam Neeson: “Don’t ever f--k with Liam Neeson. That mother f----r will come get you and your family!”
Speaking of Irishman, McGregor has also been looking a little further back in his career to when he lost to a compatriot. While the Notorious is currently riding the momentum of a 14-fight winning streak, he does have two defeats on his card, one of which came against Joe Duffy, who is currently fighting at lightweight under the UFC banner.
Duffy defeated his fellow countryman inside 38 seconds back in 2010 and is set to headline a UFC event for the first time when he takes on Dustin Poirier at UFC Fight Night 76 in Dublin. McGregor is hoping his former conqueror can make positive steps up the division, but he has branded him a journeyman who he would now knock out, per Mike Bohn and John Morgan of MMAJunkie.com:
I’d love to see Duffy climb that rank; do I think he has it in him? I don’t. I think he’s a journeyman.
He quit the sport. He moved country. He changed teams. He was Welch [sic] job, then he’s in London job, now he’s in Canadian job, then he’s sees my success and all of a sudden he’s Irish job. I would love to see him climb up, and I would KO him stiff just for the way this has all panned out.
At the moment, McGregor is in vogue, as is evident by the various aforementioned outlets desperate to get a line from the ever-entertaining Irishman. But with the bout with Aldo edging ever closer, expect the UFC interim featherweight champion to knuckle down and get set for what’s likely to be the defining night of his career.
Should he beat the Brazilian, there are a plethora of options available to McGregor. But going off his boisterous words, widespread domination seems to be on his mind. After cleaning out what is an extremely talented featherweight division, some new challenges would be the perfect way to ensure his motivation continues to be fuelled.
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