Live by the sword, die by the sword.
Stunned, bloodied and muted in the octagon around 5.45am Irish time this morning, Conor McGregor told Joe Rogan he was humble both in victory and defeat. Nothing could be further from the truth. McGregor's post-Aldo victory lap has been arrogance personified. His choice to tack on 25 pounds and attempt to conquer Rafael Dos Anjos in the lightweight division with an eye on fighting Robbie Lawlor at UFC 200 was one of the boldest moves ever attempted in any combat sport.
Last night McGregor's outrageous hubris came up against the Stockton Slap. The Stockton Slap won.
https://youtu.be/xyzK4U7awcg
Let's be straight about Diaz. All credit to him in victory but Diaz is hardly the future of his weightclass. Dave Hannigan's words before the fight are worth looking at again:
Diaz has fought twice in two years, a win over a journeyman named Michael Johnson last December, a defeat by dos Anjos back in December, 2014. With a pro record of 18 victories and 10 losses, he’s fought just five times in the past three years and hasn’t won back to back fights since 2012. He’s a 30 year old card-filler whose career trajectory is heading definitely downwards. Even those of us who only dip in and out of the combat arena know that the statistics here show a man with no business taking on McGregor, except to facilitate more hot air and braggadocio.
It gets worse. Diaz didn't have a camp. Diaz was in Mexico two weeks ago, with food poisoning. It was a fight that McGregor was supposed to win. It was a fight he seemed to have won until that Stockton Slap landed. The seeds of defeat were sewn months before, when McGregor decided he owned his sport and could not be stopped. A lesser man would have been happy to dominate featherweight and retire a legend. But McGregor believed his own bullshit.
His valour is commendable but his arrogance is also off the charts. Crumlin's finest has been put back in his place. He's provd to be a gracious loser, which is refreshing and proof of his character. But we live in a new world now. Conor McGregor, it turns out, is mortal.
