UFC 189's Conor McGregor talks decision to dedicate life to MMA

Conor McGregor can be a bombastic talker, often seemingly willing to say anything to hype himself and a fight. However, the Irish MMA superstar can also be an interesting, engaging person when speaking about the sport and his past.

In a recent interview in the lead-up to his UFC 189 main event against featherweight champion Jose Aldo (25-1 MMA, 7-0 UFC) – now an interim title fight against Chad Mendes (17-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC) following Aldo’s rib injury – McGregor (17-2 MMA, 5-0 UFC) spoke to media members and gave interesting insight into his decision to fully dedicate his life to the sport of MMA.

“After my first defeat, I had no respect for jiu-jitsu,” McGregor told MMAjunkie’s video partner, Rick J. Lee. “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.

“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.”

UFC 189 takes place July 11 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass.

Check out the full interview with McGregor above.

And for more on UFC 189, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

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