McGregor Forever (2023) s01e02 Episode Script
As Real as It Gets
1
Oh, this is clicking.
It's, like, literally clicking.
Like, move it
and it'll go click or something.
Dunno, feels a bit broke, to be honest.
Can you move it?
It's banged up, like.
It's banged up.
A hand injury's always difficult.
It's an injury to the joint,
and it's actually worse
than a fracture,
in that it's going to
take more time.
It's gonna require an operation,
and we're looking at
some time off training,
something in the region of 12 weeks.
- Twelve?!
- Twelve.
How does a guy who's
so concerned with putting work in,
how does he cope with rehabilitation
and time on the sideline?
I'm fight to be honest,
I'm probably fighting depression daily.
I'm fighting myself,
know what I mean?
'Cause you are fighting yourself.
There is no
there is no opponent, you know
what I mean? It's you versus you.
For an athlete, for a guy like me,
you know, if I can't train,
or if I have nothing to work towards,
it's tough, but,
I need to be strong, 'cause other people
have came back and conquered it,
so that's what I plan on doing.
I always had that belief that in my head,
that I was gonna return.
And not only return, return better than
anybody has ever returned before.
You're gonna have to
be very careful with it.
And I was even thinking
of maybe holding it like this.
Yeah.
At least then I got none
coming back on the thumb,
whereas this way, there's always
the risk I'm gonna come on the thumb
if I get a bit tired.
You're not training to be a rower,
you're just trying to workout
out of the thing.
If you want that, that's
Conor, he's not a guy
that'll sit around doing nothing,
even if you tell him to.
So, pretty much straight after
he got back out of the hospital,
straight down to the gym,
straight back training.
- How's the hand feeling, Conor?
- It's all right.
It's not bad. Still yelps me.
Had a rough week.
Did a week where it got,
like, infected.
Antibiotics and fuckin'
It was a bleedin' heavy week, it was.
Like I dipped down badly,
know what I mean?
Like, you have it
and then you just lose it,
and then you just have
to fight to get it back.
Conor can be up and down
and it's just a question of reading him.
So sometimes you have to hold him back
or he'll stay there too long,
or do too much.
This is a nuisance, everything.
A lame paw. It's like a lion
without a paw, know what I mean?
It's been a fuckin' rough
couple of bleedin'
In my headspace,
dunno what's gonna happen.
How much of your game
do you think is mental versus physical?
It's probably 100% mental, I believe
People say it's 90% mental,
10% physical,
I just think it's 100% mental.
I think everything is an illusion,
you know,
the mind is what creates
these things, you know, it's just
The mind is a powerful thing,
and I'm only learning that,
I'm growing at that,
and I mean,
so what's to stop me?
When I was a kid,
I realized I was getting these nerves.
I'd sit back and I'd be analyzing
those emotions I had
and saying,
they're a weird emotion I just had,
and ultimately,
that was what drove me to combat sport.
To be able to manage those emotions.
That was when I first got into it.
So every time I'd go to a boxing gym,
I would feel them butterflies
that I felt that time,
and I'd be thinking,
"yes, now I'm getting more comfortable."
Now I'm feeling these feelings more.
The more I feel them,
the more I'm gonna be comfortable in them.
That's why I will always
search for that feeling.
Now I'm fucking fighting in the MGM Grand,
and I don't give a shit, know what I mean?
You know, that showed me
that the mind is a powerful thing.
Croia Mairead, I baptize you
- in the name of the Father
- Good girl.
and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Yeah!
Good girl, good girl.
Now, little girl, this is all for you.
This is all for you, little girl.
So what happened was, I'd done it,
had two wires put in it.
It was taken out the cast
after five days, it was too soon.
Then I was shadow boxing again
and moved it,
and then the wires came loose.
So I had to go again.
It's not bad, though.
It's getting it just takes time.
Conor was almost like
this beacon of good health.
So him injuring his hand
was like a rare sign of vulnerability
that this guy is, like,
actually kind of human.
Around that period, I had heard
that there was talk
of booking him a fight
and I believe
the hand injury screwed it up.
People were talking
about when can he go fight again.
I was in great shape
before I broke the hand.
Like, really, good shape,
like fight shape.
I done a couple solid rounds
the other day with 18 ounce gloves.
- Brand new, I felt. So
- Queally?
With Queally.
I'm not bad, like fitness-wise.
But when there's a crowd and everything,
then it makes it
Know what I mean?
That's what I want, that's what I need,
to get the feet wet,
know what I mean?
Are you announcing a fight?
No, I'm not announcing, but I'd love
to fuckin' announce a fight.
I don't know what way to play.
Let's suss it out.
Let's have a couple of days,
I need to suss it out.
I'd almost like to do a December one,
like for charity or something.
If they're not giving me
that tune-up fight I wanted.
I don't care, necessarily,
about the money or anything like that.
That's the excuse
for the Frankie thing.
It's a bigger picture thing.
I want it up for a season.
I wanna come back,
I wanna fight Frankie,
then I wanna fight,
fucking, whoever,
like, early next 2020,
then continue with, like, a season.
The way I've fuckin' always done it
before the bleedin' politics
of the prize got involved.
D'you know what I mean?
Let's see what happens anyway.
Three, two, one, go.
The way we take every Conor fight
is that you let the fight happen,
you let the division play out,
then as it gets closer for
Conor to fight,
you see what the landscape looks like.
But you know,
we look at what could screw up
making the fights that we wanna make.
Injuries, contract negotiations,
and fame.
You get to a certain point
where you've made a bunch of money.
Now you've got other
business opportunities
that compete with fighting.
And, you know, there's always something
interesting and new going on with Conor.
It doesn't matter
where you go in the world,
everybody has heard of Conor McGregor.
Conor is one of the biggest stars
ever in the history of the sport,
and he's the guy who helped
truly take the sport global.
To be a sex symbol
Sex symbol?
It's about you.
Conor McGregor here, everybody!
It's unbelievable
actually to see you, really, here.
Thank you so much.
I appreciate that.
Like, it's really you!
If anything bad goes wrong,
it was a clone, you know what I'm saying?
Now, you're very so kind, so calm.
What is your true face?
My behavior
and my attitude reacts to how
my surroundings,
you know what I mean?
If I'm scheduled to fight a man,
and I know this man is
gearing up to
punch me in the face, and hurt me,
my attitude and behavior is different, so.
Right now, I'm in a relaxed environment,
you know, so,
this is it,
this is my true face, you could say.
What would be your next fight?
We're very, very close to announcing it,
not just yet, but surely over
the course of this trip,
we should have an announcement,
that's what we're aiming for.
That's it. Thank you so much.
Thank you very much.
Conor will sign the gifts for you now.
He can capture the attention
and the imagination of the world.
People are drawn to him
because he's just like this tornado
of charisma, and success,
and enthusiasm, and fun.
You know the fan pages
Obviously there's
fucking millions of them.
- McGregor face, Notorious Mate.
- Dee Devlin Queen.
Devlin Queen!
There's bleedin'
millions of them, like.
But whatever, we love them, don't we?
So, we're in these fan pages,
we were in Kiev, me and Dee,
and came all the way
in the train.
- How long she been here?
- Since this morning.
Hello, how are you?
Very good, how are you?
How could you not be inspired?
The way he speaks,
the humble beginnings,
the plumber's apprentice,
and then he becomes the biggest
star in the history of the sport.
He just believed it,
and he really willed it into existence.
And so, who can't
live vicariously through that?
In my first ever
mixed martial arts competition,
I was 17 years of age.
So 17. You guys are 10, 11, 12.
I had not even began training,
and I rose up,
through hard work, through focus,
and became the multiple weight
champion of the UFC.
So you guys,
you have a head start already.
So as long as you stay focused,
the sky is the limit.
So I wish you all the best,
and it's an honor to be here.
I remember when
I was in Ireland,
there were a bunch of kids
who came by, and I asked them
why they liked him so much,
and they said that he comes
from where I come from,
and he has given us hope
that we can make it in the world.
That's amazing, isn't it?
Jesus Christ, man.
I'm blown away.
Honestly, I'm blown away to see this.
So fair play to you.
- It's our future to invest in.
- Exactly.
Invest in the future, yes, no doubt.
Very good, guys, very good.
The thing about Conor is,
you become
emotionally invested in his journey
and then he takes you
on this roller coaster ride with him.
He brings this whole movement with him.
And you're seeing this movement,
and you're seeing this connection
that he has with the people.
You can't help but fall in love
with the movement as well.
There's just something about him.
This doesn't happen often.
There's, like, something
magnetic about all that.
I'd like to introduce Conor McGregor!
I'm very, very excited to be here
and I have some news for you all,
for the world, here.
I would like to announce to the public,
the return of the notorious Conor McGregor
will take place on January 18th
in the T-Mobile arena
in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Ask the UFC who the authority is,
because I do not give a fuck.
I am going to go through the entire roster
like a chainsaw through butter,
make no mistake about that.
The return of Conor McGregor.
Yes, the notorious one,
he is, in fact, coming back
on January 18th
against Donald Cerrone. UFC
- Conor and Cowboy.
- Oh, shit!
- It's coming up.
- Give the date.
Cowboy Cerrone is the opponent
for Conor's first appearance
since that UFC 229 loss
to Khabib Nurmagomedov.
I'm surprised it's Cowboy.
He is a very good fighter,
I think people agree with that,
and a legend,
he's not on the level
you see McGregor fight, usually.
If I'm gonna point out a spot
that I think Donald can beat Conor,
it's if he can get him to the ground.
McGregor. He hasn't fought
in 12 months in the Octagon,
he lost 204 by way of submission
Conor's fast, Conor's tricky. So's Cowboy!
What are your thoughts on
Conor McGregor coming in to this fight?
I got a lot more weapons
standing up than he does,
he's working on everything
he's ready for this fight, as am I.
- Cerrone will always pose a threat.
- Donald Cerrone!
He's a veteran of the game.
He grows into the fight.
Wow, and Cerrone
now trying to lock up the arm
and go for submission victory.
That's it!
He's tough as nails
very skillful,
he has nice set ups,
and tricks, stuff like that.
- That's it! It's over.
- Head-kick knockout.
The man is solid everywhere.
Very good off his back,
with his triangle game.
On the feet, very slick kickboxer.
Oh!
And let's not forget all
the great wins he had
against plenty of
top level competition.
Oh, my goodness!
Vicious head-kick by Cowboy.
He's a winner.
He's got a winner's mentality.
The all-time leader in wins!
Well, it was a rest day.
I let off the gas a little bit.
I kinda just, after rest,
I let me food go a little bit,
stayed up a little later,
those little things, and then
they impacted me the next day,
when I was waking up,
'cause I didn't get much sleep,
and then I'm kinda try to catch it back.
It's after the sessions that I
If I don't
If I don't fully commit
after the sessions,
it just impacts everything,
it's just snowballs down.
One day puts you back a week.
One day puts you back a week.
You know, until the fight,
until the fight
I was saying to the boys,
if I was to say a percentage
of how much I'm all-in,
I'm about 75%.
I'm 100% when in the gym,
I'm working as hard as I can possibly go.
But the little touches outside of it,
I'm not as fully committed as I could be.
Now, don't get me wrong,
I'm fucking
We're 10 weeks out,
I'm gonna up that as well,
as I'm closing in, it doesn't impact me.
Yup, double bag.
Double bag.
Double bag.
You know,
Conor's obviously, he's my fighter,
I coach a fighter. I always felt Conor
was like a kid brother or something,
and I just didn't see the point
in him doing any more,
unless he was really up for it,
unless it was really motivating to him.
I wanted it to be
that he's really enjoying it.
Ah, good work.
That's what I've seen
in these last few months.
The smile is back again,
the post-training questions and chats,
and looking at techniques.
All of those things that were
a lot of fun with him on the way up,
I see a return, very strong.
Up! Again! Up!
Last time,
I was just not committed, simple as.
And that led to injuries,
that led to doubt in the mind.
Keep it simple. Know what I mean?
Put in the time,
you'll get the reward back.
He's gonna do five-fives,
kickboxing rounds with takedowns
with all the guys
that are a similar size to Cerrone.
And they're all high-level kickboxers
so they're going to be able to
mimic him very well.
Look at the amount of them.
It's a bit over the top now,
there's only bleedin' a million of them.
I don't need them all,
give me a minute.
He's not preparing
to beat up Donald Cerrone,
he's preparing to give
an exhibition of mixed martial arts.
As opposed to, like,
revenge, and anger,
and aggression,
and wanting to hurt somebody.
It's very, very different mindsets.
It's night and day, it's night and day,
and that's what we see a return to here.
He's a very different
athlete since that loss.
Part of that's the training
that we've been doing,
that's one part,
but you've gotta want to do it.
He found that want.
That's why his mental attitude
and his approach to this,
this time is a whole lot better.
Set a time to train,
train at that time.
Set a time to go to sleep,
go to sleep at that time.
Set a time to get up,
get up at that time.
Don't tell yourself you need to
do something and then don't do it.
That's what I was
talking about with Ariel. I said
I knew in my head,
I was saying, "get up at this time."
I got
I didn't get up at that time.
"Train at this time."
I didn't train at that time.
"Don't eat this." I ate that.
"Don't drink that." I drank it.
And these all just
infiltrate my mental strength.
- Just little, kind of, defeats.
- Exactly.
Little defeats instead of wins.
And it just culminates into, "ahhh."
And you just don't wanna be here.
So, I'm just figuring meself out,
like I've never figured meself out before.
You go from a camp where there's
a lot of animosity between the two people
into a camp where
it's back doing it for the love of it,
and I always remember from day one,
Conor fights at his best
when he's like that.
In the early days,
when Conor started fighting,
he had no kickboxing, no wrestling,
no jujitsu, but he loved to train.
He was always trying to improve.
Always trying to get better technically.
And then eventually
he got the call up for Cage Warriors,
and, obviously, Conor's results
spoke for themselves,
like all serious, unbelievable KOs, TKOs.
Because he's the most
obsessed person I've ever met
about fighting.
Everything I do
in my life is related to this.
I don't do nothing else,
if it's not got to do with fighting.
It's in my head 24/7.
I don't think about nothing else.
That's why it's become a career for me,
because I love it.
I love what I do. It's my life.
Ireland!
You know what I mean,
there's two things I've learnt.
Number one is that hard work pays off.
And number two is that dreams comes true,
and that's what's happened.
A two division champion.
The notorious Conor
McGregor!
We are excited to see Conor McGregor
step into the Octagon.
This is my UFC debut
and I'm very excited about it.
I'm on an eight-fight win streak, yeah.
Love to make it nine,
but I don't really think about that.
I just don't really think about that,
just keep the head clear.
I picture meself going in there,
and feeling at home.
And here we go.
Quickly taking the center of the Octagon.
Black trunks for Dublin,
Ireland's McGregor.
Look at that uppercut!
Looking to finish it here!
This is why everyone's been
talking about Conor McGregor!
It is all over!
Conor McGregor, another first round win!
Wow!
Dana, 60 Gs, baby!
Someone is
calling out for knockout of the night.
- Well done.
- Welcome to the UFC, man.
Thank you very much.
So, there's been a lot of hype,
I guess the hype is real.
Even when I met him, he had that
thing you can't put your finger on,
but a lot of people
call it the "it factor."
He's got a certain energy to him,
he's exciting,
he's funny, he's witty, he's smart.
I knew right away if this kid could break
into the top five, he'd be a big star.
What was the feeling like?
Describe the emotions
at the end of the fight?
To be honest,
I don't know what's going on here.
I'm just, after hearing $60,000
I'm just thinking about what
I'm gonna spend it on.
Just last week
I was collecting the social welfare,
you know what I mean?
Now I suppose I'm just gonna
have to tell them to fuck off!
Conor, just one more question.
Before Conor's UFC debut,
nobody knew what MMA was
in Ireland.
It was a very, very small scene
but Conor captivated the Irish people.
Why was it so important
to be here tonight?
Support teammates, support teammates.
Are you proud to be, like,
leading the way
for more SBG
and Irish fighters in UFC?
Of course I am. You know what I mean,
to give people an opportunity
to come onto the stage,
and to make money,
and make a living out of it,
that's something nobody can take from me.
- Focus, just calm.
- It's your show. It's your show.
I paved the way for this
so I take great pride in this,
and when it's all said and done,
and when I walk away from the game,
and I watch these young kids
coming up that no one's even heard of
at the minute,
that are climbing the ladder,
I can sit back and watch with a smile
knowing that I played some part in that.
We had a great team
even before Conor started fighting,
but we never had that belief in ourselves.
Let's go, Peter.
But when Conor came in,
everyone changed their belief in the gym.
We were like, this is our boy,
if he can do it, why can't we do it?
MMA wouldn't be how
it is today if Conor didn't arrive.
- Especially for Irish MMA.
- Yes! There you go!
We just weren't getting a look in
until Conor came along.
And then that put
the spotlight on the country,
and he really kind of
drug Ireland into the scene.
Yes!
Yes!
Fucking delighted,
that's a hardworking man right there.
Understand that.
The work that man puts in.
He commits his whole life to it.
Fucking proud of him,
swear to God, man.
Before I got here,
we weren't even on the map.
Now it's all they seem
to be talking about.
So I will embrace it,
and I will raise the tricolor high,
and I will be proud of it.
- Hello, how are you?
- I'm good. How are you?
I'm good, good, good.
I have some paperwork for you to sign.
Signature and full date right over here.
Right, and one more, 14 up here.
Today is check-in day, it's where
he signs the UFC official posters,
gets his gear, really sets the tone
for the rest of the week.
- How are you? Good to see you.
- Good to see you too.
- How's the week?
- Oh, that's always a little struggle.
- Yeah.
- Yours?
I'm on that. Thank the fucking Lord!
- All I know is I'll make it.
- Yeah, good on you.
- True pro.
- Yeah, hop on.
There was a ton of pressure
on Conor going into the Cerrone fight.
He was coming off
the disastrous Khabib fight
and there was this long lay-off,
and I think people were starting
to think, if he stumbles here,
the old Conor is no more.
Perfect.
But I think he handled it well.
He was calm, he was relaxed.
It just seemed like he was in a very
sort of zen-like state before that fight.
Dear fans in Scandinavia,
UFC 246 is this Saturday,
watch on Viaplayer.
Tune in to see the return
of the notorious one.
Hola. Soy Conor McGregor.
Enjoy UFC 246 aquí en Español.
What are your thoughts
on fighting Cowboy Cerrone?
This is gonna be Sorry.
This is going to be a
very exciting bout for the fans,
and I'm very excited
I hate this part of it!
I swear to God.
I can't, man. Okay, go again.
You said once
that what defines us
is how well you rise after falling.
Is that quote something
that is still true for you?
Yeah, of course. You know,
I've came back I came back before
right after the Diaz loss,
and I proved everyone,
I showed everyone,
what a fully focused Conor can do.
It's like sometimes when I get it all,
I have to kinda give it away
for me to want to get it again.
So, maybe that's where I am right now.
And I'm in a great spot.
I'll get this, and I don't think I'll
I don't think I'll give this up.
Been focusing on the skills,
you know,
focusing on my inner self,
I feel really good doing that,
feel a lot more calmer,
a lot more at peace.
I'm treating this like a season,
so Donald is first up,
and there will be many after him.
- You looking forward to the face-off?
- Yeah, most certainly.
It's just good to get in there,
and get the excitement built up.
Conor, I wanted to start with you.
It's clear that you've got a much
different energy about you this week.
You know, sometimes you gotta go
to certain places in our life to
to realize what we need to do,
and I certainly
I turned over a new leaf.
Although I feel I'm still
the same young man,
but, I don't know,
I am as real as it gets,
like the company slogan, you know.
I react to how the situation is.
He has my respect,
and although there will be blood spilled,
on January 18th,
it will not be bad blood.
And for the Mystic Meg prediction,
it will be a KO.
Cowboy, many people say
that you prefer when there's no bad blood.
Does it matter to you?
No, there's no truth.
We're just professionals.
Why can't we why can't Conor sit here
and hold himself like he's doing, right?
This is fucking amazing,
are you kidding me?
I mean, you guys aren't getting
the clickbait and all the shit y'all want,
but as a man, pssh, my hat's off
to the sumbitch for sitting here.
Excellent, thank you very much.
Hey, Conor, you've laid out
plans for the 2020 season,
as you're calling it.
I'm in a good spot,
I am ready to fight,
any weight, any division, any anything.
Line them fucking up.
I feel good.
I feel energetic, light, fast,
accurate, and precise.
So if I'm going
to kickstart UFCs 2020 year big.
When am I on, 10 o'clock?
I think so.
See if we can find actual
clarification on an exact time.
Usually they can tell you
you'll be walking out
Where's your hands?
Where's your hands?
Daddy's gonna fight on there
later on tonight.
- Wow, no way!
- Swear to God!
Yeah, I'm gonna boot him around.
Yeah, and then bop!
- Yah!
- Yeah!
- We're gonna do it!
- Yes, we are, champ!
- We're gonna fight on the telly.
- Yes. Boom!
Say, "Good luck, Daddy!"
Let's go, Daddy! Give us a kiss.
- Bye, now.
- See you!
See you in a bit!
- Good luck, Daddy. See you later.
- Thanks, Kathy. Thank you. Appreciate it.
- See you later.
- All right, champ. Have fun, all right?
Aw, are you sad?
Aw, I need your support, buddy.
See you in a bit, all right, buddy?
We'll watch it
when we come back.
We're gonna watch the fight
when I come back?
Places, everybody! Andy's coming!
Buzz Lightyear will help me, won't he?
That's okay, Daddy has to go.
It's just work, Daddy has to go to work.
Come on, come on.
In the Cerrone fight,
he was back having fun.
The big thing with Conor is
when he's enjoying the challenge,
he's at his best.
When he's just in the moment,
not emotional,
just reading the game,
reading the opponent,
and finding the shots.
There's nobody on the planet that can
touch Conor when he's like that.
Feeling very good. Energetic.
Bags of energy, I have.
Perfect.
Conor's at a state in his career
where it's about leaving the legacy
and the moments behind
that he wants to be remembered by.
Even though he's a legend, right now,
if he decides to never compete again.
But that's not who he is.
When you see him so focused, so driven,
so present in his craft,
it's because he has
that fire and that edge
and that ambition to just go get it,
and really just put a stamp
on what he's trying to achieve.
We're going up. We're going up.
Did you have faith
that you would be able to explode
onto the scene, as you had?
If I didn't,
it wouldn't have happened.
I had to believe in it. I had to feel it.
I had to have faith in it
for it to happen.
So, you're damn right I did.
What happens if you do lose?
That is not in the equation,
that does not process in my brain
for one second.
Is there like a safe,
that's in your brain, that's locked,
and it just doesn't open?
I don't know. I'm not a neurologist,
I'm not a neurologist.
I just cannot see it, I cannot feel it.
When you put it all together,
not just the weigh-ins,
not just the fight,
all of the other stuff,
nobody can do it better than me.
Oh!
Early head kick from McGregor!
Cerrone covering up! Cerrone's down!
Oh, Cerrone trying to survive,
30 seconds in.
Conor McGregor!
Too easy! Wow!
Wow. Wow.
Less than a minute in,
Conor McGregor announces his return
with about as many
style points as you can produce.
Proclaimed the winner by TKO,
the notorious Conor
McGregor!
Woo!
Oh, my God, I can't
You know what Conor said to me,
I think it was last week?
"Everyone thinks he's gonna knock
me out with a head kick.
I'm gonna knock him out
with a head kick." I swear to God.
Congratulations, champ.
Come on, you fucking legend!
Yes!
Yeah, all the boxing training.
I banged him on his shoulder!
Eh, d'you remember?
D'you remember it was back
in Georgia, USA?
You turned your back
and I said, "Don't go away."
Ah, rushed that.
Good, very good, but I rushed the finish.
I got
It was done, and I was like, "Ah!"
Then you then you did take a second!
And then I did take a second,
yeah, then I did.
I told him so.
That's control, man, that's all it is.
D'you know what that is?
That's something out of the cage.
That I weren't like that.
Usually I would have just settled into it.
Oh!
Fucking wow!
Seriously, fucking wow.
Every Saturday night,
I gotta make people jump outta their seats
and say, "Holy shit," and
whether he won or lost the fight,
every Conor fight,
it was a "holy shit" fight.
Is anybody else as blown away
as I am by that shit?
Am I the only guy in the whole place
- that didn't see that coming?
- Thanks, mate!
I did not see that coming.
I thought it was gonna be a war.
What about the shoulder shoves,
like, what are they?
Boom, that got him.
He's a slow starter but, Jesus Christ.
That was madness.
The whole fucking arena was like this
The whole place. Holy shit.
Happy days, happy days.
Conor, congratulations.
After everything you have
been through since the Khabib fight,
is it possible to put into words
what this moment means to you?
The hard work pays, you know what I mean?
It's I'm no different
than I was before,
I just was committed, worked hard,
and earned it.
And that's it, we're all equal, I feel.
It's the work you're willing to put in and
the commitment you're willing to put in,
and I was committed to this camp,
and I'm happy and proud
to represent my team and our work.
Is it fair to say you're
a little emotional right now?
Of course,
fighting is an emotional game.
You've no idea, it's a rollercoaster of
emotion, maybe a little more this time,
all I've gone through, and all the team's
gone through, and my peoples gone through.
It's good to get us back where we belong.
Very grateful for the people
that stuck with me through
this trying time,
and this one's for for them.
Well done, mate. Great fight, you know.
The Irish won it again.
Yeah!
Oh, yes.
Thank you, men. I appreciate you all.
Talk to me about
the emotional release.
- At the end
- Oh, it's It's just a wild game, man.
It's such a psychological
rollercoaster, man.
You know, it's just
It's worth every penny this business,
you know, so
It's a good buzz.
Conor, congratulations
on your victory this evening.
Thank you, sir,
I appreciate that.
40 seconds. I don't think
a lot of people saw that one coming.
So obviously something changed from
your preparation in the Khabib fight?
Yeah, just my commitment.
You know, I just felt like I disrespected
the people that believed in me
and supported me,
and and that's what led me
to re-center myself,
and get back to where I was at.
If you get to pick
for your next shot here,
in terms of when or who,
leaning towards anything specific?
I don't think the who matters.
Right? I think I'll be ready.
You know, I'll have a celebration tonight,
I'll chill with my kids tomorrow,
I'll show Junior the fight on the telly,
see what he thinks of it,
and then back to training, and carry on.
- Ready to go, baby?
- Yep.
You have reached your
destination on the left-hand side.
Any where you like.
If you wanna be in the middle
- Vroom, vroom, vroom.
- Yay, champion!
Woo-hoo! Yes!
Alligator, there, look.
See him, buddy?
- Conor, see him?
- See that, champ? Look!
Crocodile.
Look how still they stay.
The Cerrone fight was a way
for him to redeem himself.
It was a way to reset everything,
and it was flawless,
his performance was flawless.
He came back from that
and there wasn't a scratch on him.
It was beautiful,
and, you know, you do feel
pressure mounting a little bit, and just
to have that come off your shoulders
and that fight,
all of it is just gorgeous,
just beautiful to watch,
I'll watch it all day long.
- Look, there!
- Oh, yeah, look, it's moving!
- It's coming right for the boat.
- Oh, my God!
It's coming right for the boat!
Look, I'm seeing him
doing his head, there.
- Alligator.
- Alligator, yeah.
- What is it, Conor?
- A gator.
Alligator. Do you like it?
Oh, look, alligator.
- He knows I'm not food.
- Ooh!
What? Relax,
I'm just seeing how it reacts.
I'm in control of that thing.
Watch, watch, watch! See?
Told you, didn't I? He took a back step.
Yes, off you go, son.
Yes!
It's going,
it's submerging, it's going under.
It's going under.
Conor enjoyed it in there.
And you could see that
in the performance.
And you could see how quickly
he dismantled Cerrone.
We felt like we got it right in that camp.
The energy was perfect,
the training was perfect,
and we felt like
if we start putting a run together now,
we're back on top
and we're going onto even bigger things.
People were saying
that's it for contact sports, it's over.
No one's ever gonna play rugby again,
no one's ever gonna wanna wrestle again.
This killer disease,
and it seems to be mutating,
and taking over everything.
After the Cerrone fight,
there was lots of talk of welterweight,
and welterweight title fights and stuff.
And, you know,
it could've easily been done.
Pandemic hits, gyms are closed.
Shows were canceled, you know.
It was difficult.
Could just see
all these conflicting thoughts,
but look, we keep going,
we keep walking forward.
That's not the one we're taking, is it?
- We're taking the white one, yeah?
- Okay.
White ones are too common.
You're better off with this one.
I always visualize
what giving would feel like.
Givin' to people who have given to me.
What that would feel like.
I always dreamed of just showing up
one day and being, like, here!
And that would always
give me good feelings.
This is the first drop-off,
in Connolly Hospital.
I done two back-to-back shoulders
in Connolly Hospital with me left paw.
Thank you very much.
- One for all, sir, one for all.
- Good man.
So, it's good to be back here
and gifting back now.
Now I can do
what I've been dreaming of doing,
giving back to the people
who have given so much to me.
I think it's my duty,
it's the duty of people
who are not affected
or are in a position to help, to help.
- Thank you very much.
- My pleasure.
Oh, no, there's one more,
there's one more, sorry.
I don't know how
many weeks, now, it's been,
so I'm only human,
I've slipped a few times,
and I was training so hard
and then you have a week or two
where you cannae let it go.
But overall, I'm pretty good and it's been
a good self-learning experience.
Conor was in a financially
comfortable position
where he could just say,
okay, see you later, guys.
And he's still wanting to train,
still wanting to be involved.
And that gives you hope,
that gives you courage,
gives you purpose.
Nobody knew
when this was gonna end.
But then Dana was talking about,
well, we're working on stuff.
There's a solution to every problem,
and my job is to figure out a solution
to whenever problems pop up.
Rolling over, quitting, hiding,
none of those things
are in the way that I'm built.
Big news,
UFC president, Dana White,
announced that UFC 251
will take place July 11th
on Fight Island.
Only Dana White could come up with that.
Fight Island
was the only true bubble
that ever existed during COVID.
We brought people onto this island,
and they were there
for weeks, away from everybody else,
being tested,
and we went into this true bubble
that nobody ever left until
it was time to go back home.
We were talking to everybody
back then, you know,
because I have to offer them
three fights a year.
And they can say no.
So, we were in talks
with everybody, including Conor.
It's good to see you're well.
I haven't had
contact training in a long time.
If you're looking for spars, we have them.
Let's get this session in,
see where we're at.
- Not now.
- Yeah, not now.
Like, I said to the doctor,
I'd let you just find your spot.
This is my first time
in the gym, like, even.
That's what I'm saying,
just find your spot.
When this Corona thing happened,
I got into the best shape of me life.
That spurred me on
to stay put, stay focused,
get your work in, and I went levels up,
even from the last camp,
and then it was active rest week,
idle devil what's the quote?
Devil fucking?
- What's the quote?
- Devil makes work for idle hands.
Devil makes work for idle hands,
and that's what happened to me.
I swan-dove back into the bleeding pit.
But then I crawled myself
back out of it again
and then I was kinda like,
up and down and in and out.
And that's where I've been since, so.
We were really
pushing to stay active.
Cerrone was the start of it.
We thought that was gonna start
to have him fighting
two, three times a year,
which is a good cadence,
in terms of frequency of activity.
I don't know what's gonna happen.
They haven't
Haven't approached me with anything!
They've not come near me.
The Anderson, the Masvidal, the Usman.
None of them.
Ultimately, I can't tell
you what they were thinking.
The reality of it is, is they weren't
booking him, weren't keeping him active,
after numerous requests from us to them,
knowing that, hey, listen,
we want to stay active.
How hard is it
to sit here by the sidelines
and watch other people fight?
To see these great contests, and I'm
sitting there, can't know what I mean?
So, definitely, it's tough.
I will fight anyone. I'll fight
my corner man, I'll fight my coaches,
I'll fight my teammates, know what I mean?
Yeah, man, I will fight you right now
but I'm just trying to keep a positive
mindframe and always be happy,
because why not?
I mean, what else
nothing good ever comes from worrying,
or sitting and feeling sorry for yourself,
even though I've had a few nights
where I felt sorry for myself,
I just keep positive, keep pushing on,
things will turn good.
Shut the door, ring the bell,
And no one does it better than me.
So, stay tuned.
Oh, this is clicking.
It's, like, literally clicking.
Like, move it
and it'll go click or something.
Dunno, feels a bit broke, to be honest.
Can you move it?
It's banged up, like.
It's banged up.
A hand injury's always difficult.
It's an injury to the joint,
and it's actually worse
than a fracture,
in that it's going to
take more time.
It's gonna require an operation,
and we're looking at
some time off training,
something in the region of 12 weeks.
- Twelve?!
- Twelve.
How does a guy who's
so concerned with putting work in,
how does he cope with rehabilitation
and time on the sideline?
I'm fight to be honest,
I'm probably fighting depression daily.
I'm fighting myself,
know what I mean?
'Cause you are fighting yourself.
There is no
there is no opponent, you know
what I mean? It's you versus you.
For an athlete, for a guy like me,
you know, if I can't train,
or if I have nothing to work towards,
it's tough, but,
I need to be strong, 'cause other people
have came back and conquered it,
so that's what I plan on doing.
I always had that belief that in my head,
that I was gonna return.
And not only return, return better than
anybody has ever returned before.
You're gonna have to
be very careful with it.
And I was even thinking
of maybe holding it like this.
Yeah.
At least then I got none
coming back on the thumb,
whereas this way, there's always
the risk I'm gonna come on the thumb
if I get a bit tired.
You're not training to be a rower,
you're just trying to workout
out of the thing.
If you want that, that's
Conor, he's not a guy
that'll sit around doing nothing,
even if you tell him to.
So, pretty much straight after
he got back out of the hospital,
straight down to the gym,
straight back training.
- How's the hand feeling, Conor?
- It's all right.
It's not bad. Still yelps me.
Had a rough week.
Did a week where it got,
like, infected.
Antibiotics and fuckin'
It was a bleedin' heavy week, it was.
Like I dipped down badly,
know what I mean?
Like, you have it
and then you just lose it,
and then you just have
to fight to get it back.
Conor can be up and down
and it's just a question of reading him.
So sometimes you have to hold him back
or he'll stay there too long,
or do too much.
This is a nuisance, everything.
A lame paw. It's like a lion
without a paw, know what I mean?
It's been a fuckin' rough
couple of bleedin'
In my headspace,
dunno what's gonna happen.
How much of your game
do you think is mental versus physical?
It's probably 100% mental, I believe
People say it's 90% mental,
10% physical,
I just think it's 100% mental.
I think everything is an illusion,
you know,
the mind is what creates
these things, you know, it's just
The mind is a powerful thing,
and I'm only learning that,
I'm growing at that,
and I mean,
so what's to stop me?
When I was a kid,
I realized I was getting these nerves.
I'd sit back and I'd be analyzing
those emotions I had
and saying,
they're a weird emotion I just had,
and ultimately,
that was what drove me to combat sport.
To be able to manage those emotions.
That was when I first got into it.
So every time I'd go to a boxing gym,
I would feel them butterflies
that I felt that time,
and I'd be thinking,
"yes, now I'm getting more comfortable."
Now I'm feeling these feelings more.
The more I feel them,
the more I'm gonna be comfortable in them.
That's why I will always
search for that feeling.
Now I'm fucking fighting in the MGM Grand,
and I don't give a shit, know what I mean?
You know, that showed me
that the mind is a powerful thing.
Croia Mairead, I baptize you
- in the name of the Father
- Good girl.
and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Yeah!
Good girl, good girl.
Now, little girl, this is all for you.
This is all for you, little girl.
So what happened was, I'd done it,
had two wires put in it.
It was taken out the cast
after five days, it was too soon.
Then I was shadow boxing again
and moved it,
and then the wires came loose.
So I had to go again.
It's not bad, though.
It's getting it just takes time.
Conor was almost like
this beacon of good health.
So him injuring his hand
was like a rare sign of vulnerability
that this guy is, like,
actually kind of human.
Around that period, I had heard
that there was talk
of booking him a fight
and I believe
the hand injury screwed it up.
People were talking
about when can he go fight again.
I was in great shape
before I broke the hand.
Like, really, good shape,
like fight shape.
I done a couple solid rounds
the other day with 18 ounce gloves.
- Brand new, I felt. So
- Queally?
With Queally.
I'm not bad, like fitness-wise.
But when there's a crowd and everything,
then it makes it
Know what I mean?
That's what I want, that's what I need,
to get the feet wet,
know what I mean?
Are you announcing a fight?
No, I'm not announcing, but I'd love
to fuckin' announce a fight.
I don't know what way to play.
Let's suss it out.
Let's have a couple of days,
I need to suss it out.
I'd almost like to do a December one,
like for charity or something.
If they're not giving me
that tune-up fight I wanted.
I don't care, necessarily,
about the money or anything like that.
That's the excuse
for the Frankie thing.
It's a bigger picture thing.
I want it up for a season.
I wanna come back,
I wanna fight Frankie,
then I wanna fight,
fucking, whoever,
like, early next 2020,
then continue with, like, a season.
The way I've fuckin' always done it
before the bleedin' politics
of the prize got involved.
D'you know what I mean?
Let's see what happens anyway.
Three, two, one, go.
The way we take every Conor fight
is that you let the fight happen,
you let the division play out,
then as it gets closer for
Conor to fight,
you see what the landscape looks like.
But you know,
we look at what could screw up
making the fights that we wanna make.
Injuries, contract negotiations,
and fame.
You get to a certain point
where you've made a bunch of money.
Now you've got other
business opportunities
that compete with fighting.
And, you know, there's always something
interesting and new going on with Conor.
It doesn't matter
where you go in the world,
everybody has heard of Conor McGregor.
Conor is one of the biggest stars
ever in the history of the sport,
and he's the guy who helped
truly take the sport global.
To be a sex symbol
Sex symbol?
It's about you.
Conor McGregor here, everybody!
It's unbelievable
actually to see you, really, here.
Thank you so much.
I appreciate that.
Like, it's really you!
If anything bad goes wrong,
it was a clone, you know what I'm saying?
Now, you're very so kind, so calm.
What is your true face?
My behavior
and my attitude reacts to how
my surroundings,
you know what I mean?
If I'm scheduled to fight a man,
and I know this man is
gearing up to
punch me in the face, and hurt me,
my attitude and behavior is different, so.
Right now, I'm in a relaxed environment,
you know, so,
this is it,
this is my true face, you could say.
What would be your next fight?
We're very, very close to announcing it,
not just yet, but surely over
the course of this trip,
we should have an announcement,
that's what we're aiming for.
That's it. Thank you so much.
Thank you very much.
Conor will sign the gifts for you now.
He can capture the attention
and the imagination of the world.
People are drawn to him
because he's just like this tornado
of charisma, and success,
and enthusiasm, and fun.
You know the fan pages
Obviously there's
fucking millions of them.
- McGregor face, Notorious Mate.
- Dee Devlin Queen.
Devlin Queen!
There's bleedin'
millions of them, like.
But whatever, we love them, don't we?
So, we're in these fan pages,
we were in Kiev, me and Dee,
and came all the way
in the train.
- How long she been here?
- Since this morning.
Hello, how are you?
Very good, how are you?
How could you not be inspired?
The way he speaks,
the humble beginnings,
the plumber's apprentice,
and then he becomes the biggest
star in the history of the sport.
He just believed it,
and he really willed it into existence.
And so, who can't
live vicariously through that?
In my first ever
mixed martial arts competition,
I was 17 years of age.
So 17. You guys are 10, 11, 12.
I had not even began training,
and I rose up,
through hard work, through focus,
and became the multiple weight
champion of the UFC.
So you guys,
you have a head start already.
So as long as you stay focused,
the sky is the limit.
So I wish you all the best,
and it's an honor to be here.
I remember when
I was in Ireland,
there were a bunch of kids
who came by, and I asked them
why they liked him so much,
and they said that he comes
from where I come from,
and he has given us hope
that we can make it in the world.
That's amazing, isn't it?
Jesus Christ, man.
I'm blown away.
Honestly, I'm blown away to see this.
So fair play to you.
- It's our future to invest in.
- Exactly.
Invest in the future, yes, no doubt.
Very good, guys, very good.
The thing about Conor is,
you become
emotionally invested in his journey
and then he takes you
on this roller coaster ride with him.
He brings this whole movement with him.
And you're seeing this movement,
and you're seeing this connection
that he has with the people.
You can't help but fall in love
with the movement as well.
There's just something about him.
This doesn't happen often.
There's, like, something
magnetic about all that.
I'd like to introduce Conor McGregor!
I'm very, very excited to be here
and I have some news for you all,
for the world, here.
I would like to announce to the public,
the return of the notorious Conor McGregor
will take place on January 18th
in the T-Mobile arena
in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Ask the UFC who the authority is,
because I do not give a fuck.
I am going to go through the entire roster
like a chainsaw through butter,
make no mistake about that.
The return of Conor McGregor.
Yes, the notorious one,
he is, in fact, coming back
on January 18th
against Donald Cerrone. UFC
- Conor and Cowboy.
- Oh, shit!
- It's coming up.
- Give the date.
Cowboy Cerrone is the opponent
for Conor's first appearance
since that UFC 229 loss
to Khabib Nurmagomedov.
I'm surprised it's Cowboy.
He is a very good fighter,
I think people agree with that,
and a legend,
he's not on the level
you see McGregor fight, usually.
If I'm gonna point out a spot
that I think Donald can beat Conor,
it's if he can get him to the ground.
McGregor. He hasn't fought
in 12 months in the Octagon,
he lost 204 by way of submission
Conor's fast, Conor's tricky. So's Cowboy!
What are your thoughts on
Conor McGregor coming in to this fight?
I got a lot more weapons
standing up than he does,
he's working on everything
he's ready for this fight, as am I.
- Cerrone will always pose a threat.
- Donald Cerrone!
He's a veteran of the game.
He grows into the fight.
Wow, and Cerrone
now trying to lock up the arm
and go for submission victory.
That's it!
He's tough as nails
very skillful,
he has nice set ups,
and tricks, stuff like that.
- That's it! It's over.
- Head-kick knockout.
The man is solid everywhere.
Very good off his back,
with his triangle game.
On the feet, very slick kickboxer.
Oh!
And let's not forget all
the great wins he had
against plenty of
top level competition.
Oh, my goodness!
Vicious head-kick by Cowboy.
He's a winner.
He's got a winner's mentality.
The all-time leader in wins!
Well, it was a rest day.
I let off the gas a little bit.
I kinda just, after rest,
I let me food go a little bit,
stayed up a little later,
those little things, and then
they impacted me the next day,
when I was waking up,
'cause I didn't get much sleep,
and then I'm kinda try to catch it back.
It's after the sessions that I
If I don't
If I don't fully commit
after the sessions,
it just impacts everything,
it's just snowballs down.
One day puts you back a week.
One day puts you back a week.
You know, until the fight,
until the fight
I was saying to the boys,
if I was to say a percentage
of how much I'm all-in,
I'm about 75%.
I'm 100% when in the gym,
I'm working as hard as I can possibly go.
But the little touches outside of it,
I'm not as fully committed as I could be.
Now, don't get me wrong,
I'm fucking
We're 10 weeks out,
I'm gonna up that as well,
as I'm closing in, it doesn't impact me.
Yup, double bag.
Double bag.
Double bag.
You know,
Conor's obviously, he's my fighter,
I coach a fighter. I always felt Conor
was like a kid brother or something,
and I just didn't see the point
in him doing any more,
unless he was really up for it,
unless it was really motivating to him.
I wanted it to be
that he's really enjoying it.
Ah, good work.
That's what I've seen
in these last few months.
The smile is back again,
the post-training questions and chats,
and looking at techniques.
All of those things that were
a lot of fun with him on the way up,
I see a return, very strong.
Up! Again! Up!
Last time,
I was just not committed, simple as.
And that led to injuries,
that led to doubt in the mind.
Keep it simple. Know what I mean?
Put in the time,
you'll get the reward back.
He's gonna do five-fives,
kickboxing rounds with takedowns
with all the guys
that are a similar size to Cerrone.
And they're all high-level kickboxers
so they're going to be able to
mimic him very well.
Look at the amount of them.
It's a bit over the top now,
there's only bleedin' a million of them.
I don't need them all,
give me a minute.
He's not preparing
to beat up Donald Cerrone,
he's preparing to give
an exhibition of mixed martial arts.
As opposed to, like,
revenge, and anger,
and aggression,
and wanting to hurt somebody.
It's very, very different mindsets.
It's night and day, it's night and day,
and that's what we see a return to here.
He's a very different
athlete since that loss.
Part of that's the training
that we've been doing,
that's one part,
but you've gotta want to do it.
He found that want.
That's why his mental attitude
and his approach to this,
this time is a whole lot better.
Set a time to train,
train at that time.
Set a time to go to sleep,
go to sleep at that time.
Set a time to get up,
get up at that time.
Don't tell yourself you need to
do something and then don't do it.
That's what I was
talking about with Ariel. I said
I knew in my head,
I was saying, "get up at this time."
I got
I didn't get up at that time.
"Train at this time."
I didn't train at that time.
"Don't eat this." I ate that.
"Don't drink that." I drank it.
And these all just
infiltrate my mental strength.
- Just little, kind of, defeats.
- Exactly.
Little defeats instead of wins.
And it just culminates into, "ahhh."
And you just don't wanna be here.
So, I'm just figuring meself out,
like I've never figured meself out before.
You go from a camp where there's
a lot of animosity between the two people
into a camp where
it's back doing it for the love of it,
and I always remember from day one,
Conor fights at his best
when he's like that.
In the early days,
when Conor started fighting,
he had no kickboxing, no wrestling,
no jujitsu, but he loved to train.
He was always trying to improve.
Always trying to get better technically.
And then eventually
he got the call up for Cage Warriors,
and, obviously, Conor's results
spoke for themselves,
like all serious, unbelievable KOs, TKOs.
Because he's the most
obsessed person I've ever met
about fighting.
Everything I do
in my life is related to this.
I don't do nothing else,
if it's not got to do with fighting.
It's in my head 24/7.
I don't think about nothing else.
That's why it's become a career for me,
because I love it.
I love what I do. It's my life.
Ireland!
You know what I mean,
there's two things I've learnt.
Number one is that hard work pays off.
And number two is that dreams comes true,
and that's what's happened.
A two division champion.
The notorious Conor
McGregor!
We are excited to see Conor McGregor
step into the Octagon.
This is my UFC debut
and I'm very excited about it.
I'm on an eight-fight win streak, yeah.
Love to make it nine,
but I don't really think about that.
I just don't really think about that,
just keep the head clear.
I picture meself going in there,
and feeling at home.
And here we go.
Quickly taking the center of the Octagon.
Black trunks for Dublin,
Ireland's McGregor.
Look at that uppercut!
Looking to finish it here!
This is why everyone's been
talking about Conor McGregor!
It is all over!
Conor McGregor, another first round win!
Wow!
Dana, 60 Gs, baby!
Someone is
calling out for knockout of the night.
- Well done.
- Welcome to the UFC, man.
Thank you very much.
So, there's been a lot of hype,
I guess the hype is real.
Even when I met him, he had that
thing you can't put your finger on,
but a lot of people
call it the "it factor."
He's got a certain energy to him,
he's exciting,
he's funny, he's witty, he's smart.
I knew right away if this kid could break
into the top five, he'd be a big star.
What was the feeling like?
Describe the emotions
at the end of the fight?
To be honest,
I don't know what's going on here.
I'm just, after hearing $60,000
I'm just thinking about what
I'm gonna spend it on.
Just last week
I was collecting the social welfare,
you know what I mean?
Now I suppose I'm just gonna
have to tell them to fuck off!
Conor, just one more question.
Before Conor's UFC debut,
nobody knew what MMA was
in Ireland.
It was a very, very small scene
but Conor captivated the Irish people.
Why was it so important
to be here tonight?
Support teammates, support teammates.
Are you proud to be, like,
leading the way
for more SBG
and Irish fighters in UFC?
Of course I am. You know what I mean,
to give people an opportunity
to come onto the stage,
and to make money,
and make a living out of it,
that's something nobody can take from me.
- Focus, just calm.
- It's your show. It's your show.
I paved the way for this
so I take great pride in this,
and when it's all said and done,
and when I walk away from the game,
and I watch these young kids
coming up that no one's even heard of
at the minute,
that are climbing the ladder,
I can sit back and watch with a smile
knowing that I played some part in that.
We had a great team
even before Conor started fighting,
but we never had that belief in ourselves.
Let's go, Peter.
But when Conor came in,
everyone changed their belief in the gym.
We were like, this is our boy,
if he can do it, why can't we do it?
MMA wouldn't be how
it is today if Conor didn't arrive.
- Especially for Irish MMA.
- Yes! There you go!
We just weren't getting a look in
until Conor came along.
And then that put
the spotlight on the country,
and he really kind of
drug Ireland into the scene.
Yes!
Yes!
Fucking delighted,
that's a hardworking man right there.
Understand that.
The work that man puts in.
He commits his whole life to it.
Fucking proud of him,
swear to God, man.
Before I got here,
we weren't even on the map.
Now it's all they seem
to be talking about.
So I will embrace it,
and I will raise the tricolor high,
and I will be proud of it.
- Hello, how are you?
- I'm good. How are you?
I'm good, good, good.
I have some paperwork for you to sign.
Signature and full date right over here.
Right, and one more, 14 up here.
Today is check-in day, it's where
he signs the UFC official posters,
gets his gear, really sets the tone
for the rest of the week.
- How are you? Good to see you.
- Good to see you too.
- How's the week?
- Oh, that's always a little struggle.
- Yeah.
- Yours?
I'm on that. Thank the fucking Lord!
- All I know is I'll make it.
- Yeah, good on you.
- True pro.
- Yeah, hop on.
There was a ton of pressure
on Conor going into the Cerrone fight.
He was coming off
the disastrous Khabib fight
and there was this long lay-off,
and I think people were starting
to think, if he stumbles here,
the old Conor is no more.
Perfect.
But I think he handled it well.
He was calm, he was relaxed.
It just seemed like he was in a very
sort of zen-like state before that fight.
Dear fans in Scandinavia,
UFC 246 is this Saturday,
watch on Viaplayer.
Tune in to see the return
of the notorious one.
Hola. Soy Conor McGregor.
Enjoy UFC 246 aquí en Español.
What are your thoughts
on fighting Cowboy Cerrone?
This is gonna be Sorry.
This is going to be a
very exciting bout for the fans,
and I'm very excited
I hate this part of it!
I swear to God.
I can't, man. Okay, go again.
You said once
that what defines us
is how well you rise after falling.
Is that quote something
that is still true for you?
Yeah, of course. You know,
I've came back I came back before
right after the Diaz loss,
and I proved everyone,
I showed everyone,
what a fully focused Conor can do.
It's like sometimes when I get it all,
I have to kinda give it away
for me to want to get it again.
So, maybe that's where I am right now.
And I'm in a great spot.
I'll get this, and I don't think I'll
I don't think I'll give this up.
Been focusing on the skills,
you know,
focusing on my inner self,
I feel really good doing that,
feel a lot more calmer,
a lot more at peace.
I'm treating this like a season,
so Donald is first up,
and there will be many after him.
- You looking forward to the face-off?
- Yeah, most certainly.
It's just good to get in there,
and get the excitement built up.
Conor, I wanted to start with you.
It's clear that you've got a much
different energy about you this week.
You know, sometimes you gotta go
to certain places in our life to
to realize what we need to do,
and I certainly
I turned over a new leaf.
Although I feel I'm still
the same young man,
but, I don't know,
I am as real as it gets,
like the company slogan, you know.
I react to how the situation is.
He has my respect,
and although there will be blood spilled,
on January 18th,
it will not be bad blood.
And for the Mystic Meg prediction,
it will be a KO.
Cowboy, many people say
that you prefer when there's no bad blood.
Does it matter to you?
No, there's no truth.
We're just professionals.
Why can't we why can't Conor sit here
and hold himself like he's doing, right?
This is fucking amazing,
are you kidding me?
I mean, you guys aren't getting
the clickbait and all the shit y'all want,
but as a man, pssh, my hat's off
to the sumbitch for sitting here.
Excellent, thank you very much.
Hey, Conor, you've laid out
plans for the 2020 season,
as you're calling it.
I'm in a good spot,
I am ready to fight,
any weight, any division, any anything.
Line them fucking up.
I feel good.
I feel energetic, light, fast,
accurate, and precise.
So if I'm going
to kickstart UFCs 2020 year big.
When am I on, 10 o'clock?
I think so.
See if we can find actual
clarification on an exact time.
Usually they can tell you
you'll be walking out
Where's your hands?
Where's your hands?
Daddy's gonna fight on there
later on tonight.
- Wow, no way!
- Swear to God!
Yeah, I'm gonna boot him around.
Yeah, and then bop!
- Yah!
- Yeah!
- We're gonna do it!
- Yes, we are, champ!
- We're gonna fight on the telly.
- Yes. Boom!
Say, "Good luck, Daddy!"
Let's go, Daddy! Give us a kiss.
- Bye, now.
- See you!
See you in a bit!
- Good luck, Daddy. See you later.
- Thanks, Kathy. Thank you. Appreciate it.
- See you later.
- All right, champ. Have fun, all right?
Aw, are you sad?
Aw, I need your support, buddy.
See you in a bit, all right, buddy?
We'll watch it
when we come back.
We're gonna watch the fight
when I come back?
Places, everybody! Andy's coming!
Buzz Lightyear will help me, won't he?
That's okay, Daddy has to go.
It's just work, Daddy has to go to work.
Come on, come on.
In the Cerrone fight,
he was back having fun.
The big thing with Conor is
when he's enjoying the challenge,
he's at his best.
When he's just in the moment,
not emotional,
just reading the game,
reading the opponent,
and finding the shots.
There's nobody on the planet that can
touch Conor when he's like that.
Feeling very good. Energetic.
Bags of energy, I have.
Perfect.
Conor's at a state in his career
where it's about leaving the legacy
and the moments behind
that he wants to be remembered by.
Even though he's a legend, right now,
if he decides to never compete again.
But that's not who he is.
When you see him so focused, so driven,
so present in his craft,
it's because he has
that fire and that edge
and that ambition to just go get it,
and really just put a stamp
on what he's trying to achieve.
We're going up. We're going up.
Did you have faith
that you would be able to explode
onto the scene, as you had?
If I didn't,
it wouldn't have happened.
I had to believe in it. I had to feel it.
I had to have faith in it
for it to happen.
So, you're damn right I did.
What happens if you do lose?
That is not in the equation,
that does not process in my brain
for one second.
Is there like a safe,
that's in your brain, that's locked,
and it just doesn't open?
I don't know. I'm not a neurologist,
I'm not a neurologist.
I just cannot see it, I cannot feel it.
When you put it all together,
not just the weigh-ins,
not just the fight,
all of the other stuff,
nobody can do it better than me.
Oh!
Early head kick from McGregor!
Cerrone covering up! Cerrone's down!
Oh, Cerrone trying to survive,
30 seconds in.
Conor McGregor!
Too easy! Wow!
Wow. Wow.
Less than a minute in,
Conor McGregor announces his return
with about as many
style points as you can produce.
Proclaimed the winner by TKO,
the notorious Conor
McGregor!
Woo!
Oh, my God, I can't
You know what Conor said to me,
I think it was last week?
"Everyone thinks he's gonna knock
me out with a head kick.
I'm gonna knock him out
with a head kick." I swear to God.
Congratulations, champ.
Come on, you fucking legend!
Yes!
Yeah, all the boxing training.
I banged him on his shoulder!
Eh, d'you remember?
D'you remember it was back
in Georgia, USA?
You turned your back
and I said, "Don't go away."
Ah, rushed that.
Good, very good, but I rushed the finish.
I got
It was done, and I was like, "Ah!"
Then you then you did take a second!
And then I did take a second,
yeah, then I did.
I told him so.
That's control, man, that's all it is.
D'you know what that is?
That's something out of the cage.
That I weren't like that.
Usually I would have just settled into it.
Oh!
Fucking wow!
Seriously, fucking wow.
Every Saturday night,
I gotta make people jump outta their seats
and say, "Holy shit," and
whether he won or lost the fight,
every Conor fight,
it was a "holy shit" fight.
Is anybody else as blown away
as I am by that shit?
Am I the only guy in the whole place
- that didn't see that coming?
- Thanks, mate!
I did not see that coming.
I thought it was gonna be a war.
What about the shoulder shoves,
like, what are they?
Boom, that got him.
He's a slow starter but, Jesus Christ.
That was madness.
The whole fucking arena was like this
The whole place. Holy shit.
Happy days, happy days.
Conor, congratulations.
After everything you have
been through since the Khabib fight,
is it possible to put into words
what this moment means to you?
The hard work pays, you know what I mean?
It's I'm no different
than I was before,
I just was committed, worked hard,
and earned it.
And that's it, we're all equal, I feel.
It's the work you're willing to put in and
the commitment you're willing to put in,
and I was committed to this camp,
and I'm happy and proud
to represent my team and our work.
Is it fair to say you're
a little emotional right now?
Of course,
fighting is an emotional game.
You've no idea, it's a rollercoaster of
emotion, maybe a little more this time,
all I've gone through, and all the team's
gone through, and my peoples gone through.
It's good to get us back where we belong.
Very grateful for the people
that stuck with me through
this trying time,
and this one's for for them.
Well done, mate. Great fight, you know.
The Irish won it again.
Yeah!
Oh, yes.
Thank you, men. I appreciate you all.
Talk to me about
the emotional release.
- At the end
- Oh, it's It's just a wild game, man.
It's such a psychological
rollercoaster, man.
You know, it's just
It's worth every penny this business,
you know, so
It's a good buzz.
Conor, congratulations
on your victory this evening.
Thank you, sir,
I appreciate that.
40 seconds. I don't think
a lot of people saw that one coming.
So obviously something changed from
your preparation in the Khabib fight?
Yeah, just my commitment.
You know, I just felt like I disrespected
the people that believed in me
and supported me,
and and that's what led me
to re-center myself,
and get back to where I was at.
If you get to pick
for your next shot here,
in terms of when or who,
leaning towards anything specific?
I don't think the who matters.
Right? I think I'll be ready.
You know, I'll have a celebration tonight,
I'll chill with my kids tomorrow,
I'll show Junior the fight on the telly,
see what he thinks of it,
and then back to training, and carry on.
- Ready to go, baby?
- Yep.
You have reached your
destination on the left-hand side.
Any where you like.
If you wanna be in the middle
- Vroom, vroom, vroom.
- Yay, champion!
Woo-hoo! Yes!
Alligator, there, look.
See him, buddy?
- Conor, see him?
- See that, champ? Look!
Crocodile.
Look how still they stay.
The Cerrone fight was a way
for him to redeem himself.
It was a way to reset everything,
and it was flawless,
his performance was flawless.
He came back from that
and there wasn't a scratch on him.
It was beautiful,
and, you know, you do feel
pressure mounting a little bit, and just
to have that come off your shoulders
and that fight,
all of it is just gorgeous,
just beautiful to watch,
I'll watch it all day long.
- Look, there!
- Oh, yeah, look, it's moving!
- It's coming right for the boat.
- Oh, my God!
It's coming right for the boat!
Look, I'm seeing him
doing his head, there.
- Alligator.
- Alligator, yeah.
- What is it, Conor?
- A gator.
Alligator. Do you like it?
Oh, look, alligator.
- He knows I'm not food.
- Ooh!
What? Relax,
I'm just seeing how it reacts.
I'm in control of that thing.
Watch, watch, watch! See?
Told you, didn't I? He took a back step.
Yes, off you go, son.
Yes!
It's going,
it's submerging, it's going under.
It's going under.
Conor enjoyed it in there.
And you could see that
in the performance.
And you could see how quickly
he dismantled Cerrone.
We felt like we got it right in that camp.
The energy was perfect,
the training was perfect,
and we felt like
if we start putting a run together now,
we're back on top
and we're going onto even bigger things.
People were saying
that's it for contact sports, it's over.
No one's ever gonna play rugby again,
no one's ever gonna wanna wrestle again.
This killer disease,
and it seems to be mutating,
and taking over everything.
After the Cerrone fight,
there was lots of talk of welterweight,
and welterweight title fights and stuff.
And, you know,
it could've easily been done.
Pandemic hits, gyms are closed.
Shows were canceled, you know.
It was difficult.
Could just see
all these conflicting thoughts,
but look, we keep going,
we keep walking forward.
That's not the one we're taking, is it?
- We're taking the white one, yeah?
- Okay.
White ones are too common.
You're better off with this one.
I always visualize
what giving would feel like.
Givin' to people who have given to me.
What that would feel like.
I always dreamed of just showing up
one day and being, like, here!
And that would always
give me good feelings.
This is the first drop-off,
in Connolly Hospital.
I done two back-to-back shoulders
in Connolly Hospital with me left paw.
Thank you very much.
- One for all, sir, one for all.
- Good man.
So, it's good to be back here
and gifting back now.
Now I can do
what I've been dreaming of doing,
giving back to the people
who have given so much to me.
I think it's my duty,
it's the duty of people
who are not affected
or are in a position to help, to help.
- Thank you very much.
- My pleasure.
Oh, no, there's one more,
there's one more, sorry.
I don't know how
many weeks, now, it's been,
so I'm only human,
I've slipped a few times,
and I was training so hard
and then you have a week or two
where you cannae let it go.
But overall, I'm pretty good and it's been
a good self-learning experience.
Conor was in a financially
comfortable position
where he could just say,
okay, see you later, guys.
And he's still wanting to train,
still wanting to be involved.
And that gives you hope,
that gives you courage,
gives you purpose.
Nobody knew
when this was gonna end.
But then Dana was talking about,
well, we're working on stuff.
There's a solution to every problem,
and my job is to figure out a solution
to whenever problems pop up.
Rolling over, quitting, hiding,
none of those things
are in the way that I'm built.
Big news,
UFC president, Dana White,
announced that UFC 251
will take place July 11th
on Fight Island.
Only Dana White could come up with that.
Fight Island
was the only true bubble
that ever existed during COVID.
We brought people onto this island,
and they were there
for weeks, away from everybody else,
being tested,
and we went into this true bubble
that nobody ever left until
it was time to go back home.
We were talking to everybody
back then, you know,
because I have to offer them
three fights a year.
And they can say no.
So, we were in talks
with everybody, including Conor.
It's good to see you're well.
I haven't had
contact training in a long time.
If you're looking for spars, we have them.
Let's get this session in,
see where we're at.
- Not now.
- Yeah, not now.
Like, I said to the doctor,
I'd let you just find your spot.
This is my first time
in the gym, like, even.
That's what I'm saying,
just find your spot.
When this Corona thing happened,
I got into the best shape of me life.
That spurred me on
to stay put, stay focused,
get your work in, and I went levels up,
even from the last camp,
and then it was active rest week,
idle devil what's the quote?
Devil fucking?
- What's the quote?
- Devil makes work for idle hands.
Devil makes work for idle hands,
and that's what happened to me.
I swan-dove back into the bleeding pit.
But then I crawled myself
back out of it again
and then I was kinda like,
up and down and in and out.
And that's where I've been since, so.
We were really
pushing to stay active.
Cerrone was the start of it.
We thought that was gonna start
to have him fighting
two, three times a year,
which is a good cadence,
in terms of frequency of activity.
I don't know what's gonna happen.
They haven't
Haven't approached me with anything!
They've not come near me.
The Anderson, the Masvidal, the Usman.
None of them.
Ultimately, I can't tell
you what they were thinking.
The reality of it is, is they weren't
booking him, weren't keeping him active,
after numerous requests from us to them,
knowing that, hey, listen,
we want to stay active.
How hard is it
to sit here by the sidelines
and watch other people fight?
To see these great contests, and I'm
sitting there, can't know what I mean?
So, definitely, it's tough.
I will fight anyone. I'll fight
my corner man, I'll fight my coaches,
I'll fight my teammates, know what I mean?
Yeah, man, I will fight you right now
but I'm just trying to keep a positive
mindframe and always be happy,
because why not?
I mean, what else
nothing good ever comes from worrying,
or sitting and feeling sorry for yourself,
even though I've had a few nights
where I felt sorry for myself,
I just keep positive, keep pushing on,
things will turn good.
Shut the door, ring the bell,
And no one does it better than me.
So, stay tuned.