Broken, bloodied but unbowed.
Conor McGregor has suffered his first loss in the UFC. It is in the history books and there is no erasing it.
If anyone believes that this will derail McGregor for long is sorely mistaken.
“This is the game,” McGregor commented after his submission loss to Nate Diaz at UFC 196. “I am happy to have come out and continue and stay in this fight. It didn’t pay off. This is the fight business. It’s another day. I will come back.”
The Dubliner lingered on the pivotal moment, near the end of the second round, when he tried to take Diaz down and, 22 seconds later, was tapping out.
“He popped me with a left and caught me off balance. He got my neck. [I tried to] do similar to the Chad Mendes [fight] where I rolled and came back to my knees. I simply didn’t have it in me.
“There’s many lessons to be learned but I’m happy that I will learn and grow and come back.”
McGregor now looks set to drop back down to featherweight to defend the belt he won last December at UFC 194. Asked about possibly fighting at July’s UFC 200, McGregor’s response was class personified.
“I’m still really enjoying it. I’m not tired of it. I still feel UFC 200 is there for me. But I will sit… I’m not cut, I’m simply heartbroken and I’ll pick myself back up. We can either run from adversity, or we can face adversity head on and conquer it. That’s what I plan to do.
“You’re damn right [it will]. It’s a tough pill to swallow. We can run from adversity or we can face our adversity head on.”
Having been humble in victory in the past, it was McGregor’s turn to be humble in defeat.
He did not disappoint.
