Conor McGregor calls loss 'bitter pill': 'I went into panic mode'
- 8 years ago
For the first time in his UFC run, fans not only saw Conor McGregor look mortal.
We saw him rocked with a punch, try to take an opponent down out of desperation and then get choked out.
The McGregor that knocked out Jose Aldo and Chad Mendes was not the one who submitted by Nate Diaz in the second round Saturday night in the main event of UFC 196 here at MGM Grand.
That McGregor was a 145-pound featherweight; this one weighed in at 168 pounds to fight a bigger man in Diaz.
And that difference in size played a huge difference.
"I feel I was simply inefficient with my energy," McGregor said at the post-fight press conference.
"Usually, when I fight a man in the division I am champion in and they crumble under those shots.
But Nate took them very well.
I think the weight allowed him to take those shots well."
We saw him rocked with a punch, try to take an opponent down out of desperation and then get choked out.
The McGregor that knocked out Jose Aldo and Chad Mendes was not the one who submitted by Nate Diaz in the second round Saturday night in the main event of UFC 196 here at MGM Grand.
That McGregor was a 145-pound featherweight; this one weighed in at 168 pounds to fight a bigger man in Diaz.
And that difference in size played a huge difference.
"I feel I was simply inefficient with my energy," McGregor said at the post-fight press conference.
"Usually, when I fight a man in the division I am champion in and they crumble under those shots.
But Nate took them very well.
I think the weight allowed him to take those shots well."