The war of words between Conor McGregor and his UFC Dublin opponent Cole Miller escalated yesterday, as the American claimed on Newstalk's Off The Ball that the Irish fighter was afraid of his ground game.
Miller believes that McGregor, who has gone to Iceland to work with teammate Gunnar Nelson before the big event to fix the problems he has while fighting on the floor, an area where Miller holds a big advantage having won 15 of his 21 professional victories via submission.
He is going to train with the continent’s best Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt. Do you think he’s training with Gunnar to learn all the ways to submit me? No, he's going there to learn how to survive.
Miller went on to turn the criticism personal.
He's what I call a mental midget. He's a guy who has to put up this front that he's this great thing to try convince people other people that he's great.
This is a break in character for the normally respectful Miller, who is seen as one of the quieter fighters in the UFC. His new attitude certainly won't make his trip to Ireland any easier, and has undone the good publicity work he had been attempting in the past several months.
Miller had been talking up his Irishness, his grandmother is Irish, and recently posted a picture of him in a Donegal jersey on Twitter, but his recent actions won't have have left much space for a soft spot in the heart of any Irish fans.
The Irish hate me though this is the jersey I wore at the last World Cup #NoLove pic.twitter.com/FOlsRKT1nL
— Cole Miller (@colemillerATT) May 1, 2014
