He had us convinced.
To the victor the spoils. When you win, every conversation, action and declaration is looked back on as some divine fate. A sign that the result was determined by a higher power.
After Nate Diaz defeated Conor McGregor in March, we all marvelled at an opponent finally able to trade verbal insults and engage in mind games.
Ahead of their rematch, at UFC 202, McGregor appeared to be up against it against. Diaz made the claim, again, that McGregor (and most of the UFC roster) were on steroids, he walked out of the final press conference and lit his fuse at the weigh-ins.
The Notorious definitely appeared on edge. He appeared rattled. He was surely rattled. Surely?
“Seriously, I'm going to bleedin' burst yer man” https://t.co/mri0g4uE1d
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) August 19, 2016
Now, it appears that McGregor was toying with us all. He was toying with Diaz.
During his MMA Hour interview with Ariel Helwani, John Kavanagh admitted he was concerned his fighter might have lost focus ahead of his rematch. McGregor had it all in hand. Kavanagh said:
“I had a plan to sit down and do this [refocus] speech with him. And, after the weigh-ins, we were backstage on our own and he just looked at me, dead in the eye, cold, and said, ‘The illusion of insanity is over. Now is game-plan’.
“I was like, ‘Woah, my job is done. What am I going to add to that?’
“He stood up there and did the screaming, the posturing, and just came back off-stage and, like a serial killer, he looked at me and said that. It blew me away.
“It’s funny, with Orlagh [Hunter] I told her that I had this speech in mind and when I told her that line, what he said, I said, ‘It’s over. The fight is done’.”
Kavanagh added that McGregor’s weigh-in antics are ‘usually his last emotional outburst’ and remarked on his fighter’s intense walk-out and stare-down as his touched gloves with Diaz.
“If that didn’t make Nate take at least a gulp and realise he was fighting a different guy… ,” Kavanagh reflected before shaking his head in wonder.
‘The illusion of insanity is over’.
They will be printing t-shirts of that one.
On the latest GAA Hour we look back at Mayo-Tipperary and chat to Andy Moran about his incredible, never-ending career. Listen below or subscribe here on iTunes.
