Conor McGregor: No issue with Ronda Rousey's media blackout, 'weak' to celebrate her downfall

Conor McGregor has never been hesitant to voice his support for fellow MMA superstar Ronda Rousey. That hasn’t changed since “Rowdy” was knocked out by Amanda Nunes at UFC 207 in December.

Although their careers currently are on two different trajectories, McGregor (21-3 MMA, 9-1 UFC) and Rousey (12-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC) always are closely linked in conversation because their brand values extend beyond just MMA and into the mainstream. The pair shared the cover of the “EA Sports UFC 2” video game, have shot commercials together, and done much more side-by-side.

Rousey lost her untouchable aura with one-sided losses in consecutive fights, so an argument can be made that the landscape of opportunity opened even more for McGregor, who closed out his 2016 campaign in historic fashion when he became the first simultaneous two-division champion in UFC history with a knockout of Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205 in November.

Conor McGregor

“The Notorious” said he takes no joy out of Rousey’s downfall, though, and believes those who do need to reconsider their perspectives.

“When Ronda lost, I woke up to all these messages: ‘Now let’s see what they do.’ I’m like, ‘What?’ I don’t celebrate (that),” McGregor said Saturday in an online pay-per-view interview in Manchester, England. “I love Ronda. I’ve always supported Ronda, and then when she loses that second one people are trying to make me celebrate like, ‘Now they’ve got nobody.’ That’s the wrong mindset. I don’t celebrate another person’s defeat like that. That’s weak. That’s a weak individual that does that.

“There’s people that tried to celebrate when I lost that got nothing to do with it. That’s not the sign of the champion – that’s not the sign of a true champion. I couldn’t believe it. We’re all in it on our own, but what someone else does or doesn’t do has no effect on me and what I do. I’m doing what I do, she’s doing what she’s doing, everyone else is doing what they’re doing and it is what it is.”

Some thought McGregor might hold some resentment toward Rousey due to the fact the former UFC women’s bantamweight champion was allowed to impose a media blackout ahead of her fight with Nunes, which marked her return to the octagon 13 months after losing the belt to Holly Holm at UFC 193 in November 2015. The UFC allowed Rousey to stay almost entirely off the radar ahead of UFC 207, which is something that’s never been allowed for another athlete.

McGregor found himself pulled from the UFC 200 main event with Nate Diaz this past July when he asked to skip a single pre-fight news conference and the organization did not comply. The UFC treating like situations differently is nothing new, and McGregor said Rousey being granted a media pass didn’t bother him.

“I didn’t give a (expletive),” McGregor said. “I’m the two-weight world champion at that stage. I’m (expletive) richer than rich. I don’t give a bollocks. … She didn’t have to do the media and that’s great. If they would have done that to me I would have showed up at UFC 200, but we split the card. UFC 200 did great numbers, UFC 202 did great numbers. It also gave me that extra bit of time that looking back, I probably needed. I probably needed that extra time. So everything worked out perfect for me. I’m sitting there and I heard she requested no media and got no media and I was happy for her because that’s what she asked for. Then I also didn’t give a (expletive).”

As far as Rousey’s future, McGregor said only she can decide what comes next. Aside from a few social media posts that provided little substance, Rousey has been silent regarding whether or not she intends to fight again. It’s essentially the opposite of how McGregor handled his lone UFC defeat against Diaz at UFC 196. After the fight, he attended the post-fight news conference and answered questions about his upset submission loss.

McGregor made it clear he has no desire to offer Rousey career advice at such a delicate stage. Moreover, he said every athlete is going to handle defeat in a different way, and while he took his gracefully, he’s not going to judge Rousey for her approach, either.

“She handled it one way, but I don’t think what way she handled it was incorrect,” McGregor said. “She did what she had to do. She got away from the spotlight, she focused on her preparation. She got hit early and went down. That’s it. That’s the fight game, it’s a cruel business. I handled it the way I felt I had to handle it. I’m a cocky mother(expletive), but if you come in and get me, I’ll stand before you and stand before everyone and say, ‘You got me. I’ll get you next time.’ That’s it.”

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