Conor McGregor reflects on Ronda Rousey UFC 207 loss

To end 2016, former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey returned to the Octagon for a highly anticipated showdown with UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes, who was looking to make her first successful title defense at the event. Nunes of course picked up a dominant 48 second TKO win over Rousey, defending her title, and handing Rousey the second straight loss of her UFC career.

While initially there was much speculation as to when, or if, Rousey would be looking to return to the Octagon once again, UFC President Dana White has since revealed that Rousey is likely done fighting. With the UFC now potentially down another superstar, many believe that Conor McGregor is the UFC’s biggest star. While that of course gives McGregor more negotiating power when negotiating contracts with the promotion, the ‘champ champ’ believes it is wrong to celebrate another person’s defeat.

He spoke in his online pay-per view interview:

“When Ronda lost, I woke up to all these messages: ‘Now let’s see what they do.’ I’m like, ‘What?’ I don’t celebrate (that),” McGregor said Saturday in an online pay-per-view interview in Manchester, England. “I love Ronda. I’ve always supported Ronda, and then when she loses that second one people are trying to make me celebrate like, ‘Now they’ve got nobody.’ That’s the wrong mindset. I don’t celebrate another person’s defeat like that. That’s weak. That’s a weak individual that does that.

“There’s people that tried to celebrate when I lost that got nothing to do with it. That’s not the sign of the champion – that’s not the sign of a true champion. I couldn’t believe it. We’re all in it on our own, but what someone else does or doesn’t do has no effect on me and what I do. I’m doing what I do, she’s doing what she’s doing, everyone else is doing what they’re doing and it is what it is.”

“She handled it one way, but I don’t think what way she handled it was incorrect,” McGregor said. “She did what she had to do. She got away from the spotlight, she focused on her preparation. She got hit early and went down. That’s it. That’s the fight game, it’s a cruel business. I handled it the way I felt I had to handle it. I’m a cocky mother(expletive), but if you come in and get me, I’ll stand before you and stand before everyone and say, ‘You got me. I’ll get you next time.’ That’s it.”