Conor McGregor Thinks He’s The Reason UFC Has $4.2 Billion Price Tag

Ahead of his clash with Nate Diaz at UFC 202 next month, UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor had a lot to say at the UFC 202 press conference during International Fight Week Thursday (July 7, 2016).

McGregor feels he is heading into his bout with Diaz fresh, and expects to take Diaz out come fight night:

“The last contest was a great fight. I have my reasons why I feel the fight went the way it went, and now I have the opportunity to prove what I am saying — like I have proved many times before — that what I say is correct. So I look forward to August 20th where I will come in correct, prepared, sharp, and I will take this man out.”

When asked why he thinks a second go-around with the Stockton native will be any different, the Irishman affirmed everyone that he is preparing for Diaz’s specific style, something he’s never done before in his UFC career:

“You know I’ve simply prepared a little bit more specific. Usually I don’t prepare for a specific opponent, and the reasons are clear to everybody, everyone I face pulls out. They pull out all the time. Last minute pull outs have been a staple in my career.

So I just carried on training, even though I was preparing for Dos Anjos in the last contest. I didn’t even bring a southpaw into the camp, so this time I prepared for a long, tall, lanky, ugly, Mexican south paw. And that’s it. A lot more specific, I’m going to go in, I’m going to put this man away, that’s it.”

While many in the 145-pound division agree that McGregor has been ‘holding the division hostage’ during his welterweight tenure in his brief rivalry with Diaz, they also believe that he will never return to the featherweight division again:

McGregor said he finds this belief amusing, and that when it’s all said and done against Diaz, he’ll return to dominate both the 145 and 155-pound divisions:

“I giggle, I giggle when they try and take that credit from me. For going up this weight and fighting at 170-pounds. They try and say ‘No it’s just a fight where he’s not cutting weight’ or all this bullsh**.

Make no mistake I am the undisputed UFC 145-pound champion, and that is my division, a division that I have destroyed. Saturday night now two fighters get to fight (Aldo and Edgar), and rise up and see where we are, but make no mistake that 145-pound division is my division. I am the world champion at that weight, and I will continue to dominate that division.

I have other business that has presented itself, that I must handle first. But make no mistake 145, 155, these are all my divisions and I will continue to come back and dominate them.”

As most of you may remember, Diaz and McGregor were originally slated to headline the massive UFC 200 card. McGregor, however, refused to attend a media event in Vegas to promote the bout, leading to the beginning of a brief feud between him and the organization.

The initial beef between McGregor and the UFC spiraled out of control, leading to a social media pariah along with his removal from the UFC 200 card. When asked if he would change anything during that brief period of time, the Irishman said he wished he had communicated with the promotion better:

“I witnessed a tragedy inside the cage, my teammate was involved in a horrific incident — a very sad incident and it affected my whole team and everyone involved in the sport in my country in a different way. So theres a lot of stuff going on.

We just wanted to get out and get away, and focus, and go back to doing what we love, training and studying martial arts. So we picked up and we went to Iceland. What I would have done differently was communicated a little bit better, I messed up the way I communicated it.

If I had reached out and said it the way I should have said it, man to man, and not in public it would have played a little bit better.”

While he feels he himself could have handled the situation a little better, McGregor also feels like the UFC played it wrong as well. McGregor stated that he deserved a little bit of ‘leeway’ after all he’s done for the company, and feels he is the reason a price tag of $4.2 Billion has been placed on the company amongst rumors of a potential UFC sell:

“I feel I played it a bit wrong but they also played it wrong. I’ve done an awful lot for the company, I feel I carried 2015 on my back. I feel like the reason there is a $4.2 Billion price tag on the company is because of me, I believe that is what the Chinese estimated my net-worth, at $4.2 Billion.

I felt I deserved a little bit of leeway. But I have to understand that I didn’t communicate my point well, and that was it. It is what it is, it’s in the past, here we are. August 20th UFC 202, I’m happy to put it behind me and get back to competing and training for a contest.”

McGregor stated that he plans on beating Diaz, returning to the featherweight division to defend his title, and then going on to a trilogy bout with the Stockton native. ‘Notorious’ also once again addressed speculation that he won’t return to the 145 pounds, reminding everyone that he would make championship weight even when he wasn’t competing for the title:

” I feel it will enter into a trilogy fight. Why not? It was a great fight the last time, I really enjoyed it. I will correct that win, I’ll reclaim this (featherweight title), let all those featherweights know –that are praying that I don’t come back– I don’t understand how they could say I’m not coming back.

Like I’ve never missed weight before, I’ve never missed weight in my life. Not only have I not missed weight, I’ve actually made championship weight when I’m not even fighting for the championship belt.

I’ll beat Nate, get that win back, dominate my division again, and then we’ll re-talk for the trilogy fight with Nate. I believe this will be a trilogy fight.”

UFC 200 is sure to do huge numbers when it comes to pay-per-view (PPV) buys, however, McGregor doesn’t believe it will take the No. 1-spot that he says he currently holds with UFC 196:

“I’m happy with my number one spot currently, it’s the number one pay-per-view (PPV) in the company’s history. People think UFC 100 done more PPV buys, but it didn’t. Know that.

I feel this will do well, even though Jon Jones and Cormier was off they’re last contest done 750,000 buys. It was a five rounder, it wasn’t the best contest, I didn’t feel, it was okay. I don’t feel that was the attraction, I think bringing Brock back is the attraction to the card.

So I think it will do okay numbers, but it still won’t take UFC 196 off the top spot. And it certainly won’t take 202 off the top spot, no bout, no way.”

McGregor and Diaz will meet in the main event of UFC 202 live on pay-per-view (PPV), from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on August 20, 2016.