Conor McGregor Releases Detailed Statement on His Defeat to Khabib Nurmagomedov

In a social media post published Monday night, again popular fighter Conor McGregor went into serious detail as to what he believes went wrong with his defeat in UFC 229.

The now former UFC lightweight champion and “biggest star” of the sport admitted that Nurmagomedov won the first two rounds of the fight. He went as far as to admit that the latter was one of the worst of his career.

He noted what he described as a critical error in the fourth round of the fight, which resulted in Nurmagomedov finishing the round with a neck crank submission, managing to retain the 155-pound belt.

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“Although winning the early exchanges in 4, he dips under again and I end up in a bad position with over 3 on the clock,” McGregor wrote. “I work to regain position and end up upright, with my back to the fence. A stable position. Here however, I made a critical error of abandoning my over hook at this crucial time, exposing the back, and I end up beaten fair and square.”

To finish his detailed statement, McGregor provided fans a little bit of insight into his view of the future. He seemed to say he is not willing to accept a second fight with the opponent immediately.

“If it is not the rematch right away, no problem,” McGregor said. “I will face the next in line. It’s all me always, anyway. See you soon my fighting fans I love you all.”

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The 30 year old wrote that the fight really took a turn for the worst when he got hit in the second round. “The Notorious” said it was his belief that he may have simply lost the first round, from a sports analyst type of standpoint but not from a fighting standpoint. The second round appeared to be different.

McGregor specifically noted that he wasn’t the least bit prepared for Nurmagomedoc’s striking. “I gave his upright fighting no respect,” he said, admitting that was a mistake.

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“If I stay switched on and give his stand up even a little more respect, that right hand never gets close and we are talking completely different now,” McGregor said. “I gave his upright fighting no respect in preparation. No specific stand up spars whatsoever. Attacking grapplers/wrestlers only.That won’t happen again. I also gave my attacking grappling no respect. To [sic] defense minded. Lessons. Listen to nobody but yourself on your skill set. You are the master of your own universe. I am the master of this. I must take my own advice.”

Despite his defeat, McGregor described his first trip into the Octagon in a couple years a “great fight.” “What can I say?” he wrote. “It was a great fight and it was my pleasure. I will be back with my confidence high. Fully prepared.”

Not only is it generally a pretty wholesome thing to follow this sport, but actually practicing martial arts would be a great activity for anyone, especially families. Jiu Jitsu is fun for the whole family.