Conor McGregor: I Used To Have No Respect For Jiu Jitsu
UFC featherweight contender Conor McGregor has come under fire during his recent five-fight promotional streak, not only for his brash antics in the media, but perhaps more for the fact that he is yet to be tested against a world class grappler. Through a twist of fate, ‘The Notorious’ will now get an opportunity to address the issue, in the form of high level wrestler and heavy hitter Chad Mendes. ‘Money’ was drafted in as a replacement for the injured Brazilian boss Jose Aldo, making UFC 189’s headliner a bitter sweet booking.
McGregor’s only two losses have come on the mat, in submissions to Joseph Duffy and Artemij Sitenkov in 2010 and 2008 respectively. When asked by MMA Heat’s Karyn Bryant, as captured by MMAJunkie.com, about his losses in Ireland, ‘The Notorious’ had the following to say:
“After my first defeat, I had no respect for jiu-jitsu, I had no respect for the grappling arts. I was a boxer. I got caught in a leg lock. Whatever. I drifted in and out, wasn’t really interested. Then, my second loss – what happened was I got caught in a panic almost. When that fight ended, I was like, ‘I will never let that happen again.’ I got caught not making it serious enough. I got caught not taking the mental approach serious enough.”
Most high level athletes will tell you that they learned a lot more from their losses than in victory, and it appears as though these defeats were the catalyst for the Irishman’s recent form. The fact still remains though, the explosive two-time UFC title challenger Mendes will be looking to test that takedown defense. McGregor continues:
“In both of those fights, not one shot landed. I don’t know how many MMA fights I’ve had, but I have not been hit clean once. In these little early stoppages, I was just getting caught like, ‘What the f-ck?’ I just put it aside, (like) ‘I’m either going to put everything into it, or I’m not going to do it at all.’ Because I was half doing it at that stage. And then I said, ‘I’m going to put everything into this. That won’t happen again. I won’t get caught slipping.’ You’re either in it until death, or you’re not in it at all. That fight I decided I’m in this until the end. And then I brushed everything off. I eliminated everything from my life. I focused on everything, every aspect of my game, the mental game. Everything evolved then.”
So we’ll have a lot of questions answered next Saturday (July 11th, 2015), about both Chad Mendes and Conor McGregor, and we’ll ultimately know who is next to face the dominant champion Jose Aldo, well, unless this guy has a say in the matter.
Has McGregor evolved enough in jiu jitsu training, or will Mendes’ wrestling be enough to derail the ever-increasing hype behind ‘The Notorious’?
