McGregor: I’m #1, will be champ this year
Conor McGregor: “I’m never going to doubt them and no one else should, either. I have a clear, clear vision that that gold belt is around my waist by the end of the year.”
Last year featherweight Conor McGregor made his UFC debut, and said he was happy to be of the dole. This year the 26-year-old headlines Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 46 in Dublin, and is receiving widespread mainstream coverage in his home country of Ireland.
In a recent interview, Ariel Helwani asked him if the new found fame and success felt a little surreal.
“It doesn’t seem surreal. I believed it in when others would not,” said McGregor as transcribed by Elias Cepeda for Yahoo Sports.
Headlining a card is just the beginning of McGregor’s plan.
” I seem to have the habit of predicting the future,” he said. “I have these visions and they seem to come true. I’m never going to doubt them and no one else should, either.”
“I have a clear, clear vision that that gold belt is around my waist by the end of the year… By the end of 2014. And, I don’t know why but it’s clear as day that that belt is wrapped around my waist.
“I’m coming for all of it. I’m coming for the gold. I’m taking over the game. You just sit back and relax and watch me take over the game.”
The divisions top two fighters, champion Jose Aldo and #1 challenger Chad Mendes have been trading various charges, but McGregor is not impressed.
“I don’t believe that Aldo is running away, he defeated this guy before. Chad is an idiot to think that,” said McGregor to Tatame as transcribed by BloodyElbow. “But, to be honest, I don’t care about what happens between them. Their time is coming to an end and my time is beginning. Nothing of what they do impresses me. They don’t move like I move, don’t fight like I fight. At long last, I’m not impressed. The UFC says that I’m the number 13 in the ranking, but it’s from a typing mistake, I’m the number 1.”
So there you have it. McGregor is #1 featherweight and will be champion this year. Any other fighter just one year into the UFC talking like that would be a little off putting, but with McGregor, you have to smile along at his delight in it all.
At an open workout earlier Wednesday, McGregor and Brandao refused to break eye contact during a faceoff, requiring UFC staff to intercede.
