Last night, Conor McGregor was named as RTÉ’s Sportsperson of the Year, and he spoke to Claire McNamara about everything from Floyd Mayweather to becoming a dad for the first time next year.
“I am the two-way world champion, and that’s that,” he insisted at the start of the interview amid the controversy over whether or not the UFC have stripped him of the featherweight title he won by defeating Jose Aldo inside 13 seconds over a year ago.
“It’s good to be on top. It’s good to be a two-way world champion. It’s been an amazing year, a learning year for me. Many ups, many downs but here I am standing tall.”
McGregor described his defeat of Eddie Alvarez in Madison Square Garden as the culmination of “28 years of hard work” as he added the lightweight belt to the featherweight title he already had in his possession.
He spoke about the defeat to Nate Diaz in March: “I accepted it was my fault. I took the loss like a man, the way a champion does, I went, I regrouped, I came back better prepared and I got that win back.”
He also talked “conquering the boxing scene,” with constant rumours of a battle with Floyd Mayweather on the horizon.
“That’s a very serious thought and it’s a very serious conversation that’s happening. I’ve got the boxing licence. (Floyd’s) last two fights have been duds. I don’t need him, I could pick some local schmuck and still do big numbers. Of course it’s the fight we all want to see, but these things take time.”
Watch the full interview here…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvvvrFFczY8
