Conor McGregor må ha förlorat och avslutats på det, men det påverkar inte irländarens tro på sig själv inför returmatchen mot Nate Diaz. Om något verkar förlusten på UFC 196 ha boostat McGregors självförtroende.
”Kommer leka med Nate Diaz”
Conor McGregor (19-3) klarade sig inte ur rond två senast han mötte Nate Diaz (19-10), som avslutade irländarens obesegrade svit i UFC med ett redan legendariskt stryp. Inför returmatchen på UFC 202 i augusti är McGregor trots det självsäker över att han kan ”vädra stormen” bättre och ”leka” med Diaz.
Under lanseringen av tränaren John Kavanaghs bok ”Win or Learn” pratade ”Notorious” om det uppkommande mötet:
”I’m feeling very confident in myself that I’ll go in and I’ll toy with this man. Eight minutes of the fight, I was toying with him. That fadeaway left hand that he caught me with, my senses were still there. It was almost like a fatigue thing that my balance was gone.
Tänk om…
McGregor fortsatte utveckla kring vad som gick fel i huvudmatchen på UFC 196 och hur han trots Diaz vinst såg ett par svagheter i veteranens game.
”I always look back and question and say, what would have happened if I would have just weathered the storm? He was one or two shots being done, I feel. I feel when that left hand hit, he got this burst of energy. You can see it in his corner, they went insane. It was like they won the lotto. Then I took a couple shots and I shot and I ended up in that guillotine and then it was just downhill from there. I wonder what would have happened if I just kept my hands up, I kept circling, took the smacks and survived. Eventually his energy that he gained from that left-hand shot would have dipped again and then round three would have began. There’s a lot of questions and stuff I’m confident I can improve next time. I’m going in here confident that I will get this rematch back.”
Foto: Mazdak Cavian