Conor McGregor drops 'Rocky III' reference to explain Ronda Rousey loss

UFC interim featherweight champion Conor McGregor espouses a training mindset that incorporates lessons from a diverse set of influences, both inside and out of the cage.

His coach recently claimed the popular Irish fighter, after stopping Aldo in two rounds or less, would do no less than reinvent the game when the rest of the MMA world caught up to his training methods.

McGregor (18-2 MMA, 6-0 UFC) has said many times, however, that his mind is his strongest weapon. Among other things, it allowed him to overcome a severe injury before the biggest fight of his life, a title fight with champ Jose Aldo at UFC 189 that was later made an interim fight with Chad Mendes when Aldo (25-1 MMA, 7-0 UFC) injured his rib.

Currently, McGregor has only one superior when it comes to the demands of a frenetic life in front of the cameras. And that person, Ronda Rousey, just suffered one of the most catastrophic losses in UFC history when massive underdog Holly Holm knocked her out with a head kick earlier this month at UFC 193.

So what lesson does McGregor take from Rousey’s loss?

“If I was going to take something away from Ronda is – maybe just push everything away,” he told reporters in advance of his title unifier with Aldo at Dec. 12’s UFC 194. “I can’t really see her situation. I don’t know her situation. From looking from where I was at, I could see that maybe she’d done a little too much on the media side.

“That, coupled with a personal life that I know nothing about, could have hampered her training a little bit. Maybe could have hampered her mind. And then the particular style of opponent in Holly could have maybe combined into making her a little too emotionally invested.

“It’s important to still the mind. Calm it. Make everything smaller than it is. That’s mainly what I would take from that.”

McGregor confidently boasts he’s able to bear the weight of his role with the promotion, even proclaiming earlier this week he could do “single-leg squats” with the sport on his back. Next to the former women’s bantamweight champ, he has perhaps the busiest PR schedule of the promotion’s roster, namely because like her, he is a masterful promoter. But he claims the effects of splitting focus is different when it comes to his work.

“She had a lot on her plate and it showed in the contest,” he said. “Holly came out of the dark – in the shadows – and that can help a person. Have you ever seen ‘Rocky 3?’ Rocky was doing ads and doing talk shows and doing this and doing that while Clubber Lang was coming up in the shadows, hungry. I felt maybe that was a reference to that fight.

“I’m like Rocky,” he said. “I have it all, I do it all. But then I’m still training like Clubber. I’m still putting in that Clubber Lang work. I’m still grinding and still hungry. I think I’m right in a nice little balance.”

Perhaps the final judgement on the matter, though, will arrive with his fight against Aldo at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena. Up until this point, he’s been able to handle his explosive rise to the top. Whether he can remain there through the storm expected from the Brazilian champ is to be determined.

For more on UFC 194, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.