Michael Bisping: Conor McGregor Of Old ‘Doesn’t Exist Anymore’ But ‘I Admire His Courage’

Michael Bisping discusses the evolution of Conor McGregor ahead of his trilogy with Dustin Poirier, and gives his thoughts on how the fight will go

Michael Bisping Conor Mcgregor
Photos via Instagram @thenotoriousmma @mikebisping

Things have not gone well for Conor McGregor in the Octagon, since becoming the first ever UFC Champ-Champ. Michael Bisping seems to think he knows the reason for this dramatic change.

Bisping has been supportive but fair over the years, when it comes to McGregor, While the Irishman burst onto the UFC scene and skyrocketed to winning two titles in the UFC, he has only won one fight since getting that second belt in 2016.

McGregor dropped back to back fights, a boxing match against Floyd Mayweather and a UFC return against Khabib Nurmagomedov. While he looked back to form in his swift TKO win over Donald Cerrone, he then suffered what was arguably the worst loss of his career, getting finished with strikes in a rematch against Dustin Poirier.

Michael Bisping Questions Conor McGregor’s Motivation

As the third fight between Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor approaches, all eyes are on the Irishman to see if there is any of that same man from 2016 left. However Michael Bisping seems to think he already knows the answer to this question.

Speaking in a recent interview, the UFC Hall of Famer and former middleweight champ said that the days of McGregor being that force of nature from UFC 205 are long gone. Moreover, Michael pondered if this was due to the massive amounts of money he has made since then.

“The Conor McGregor of old is just like the me of old — it doesn’t exist anymore. I’m a nice guy, I’m a pussy cat, but I used to be a bit of a nightmare. With Conor McGregor, it’s the same thing. The man’s loaded. He’s pulling up on $100 million yachts and got $1 million watches. He gets chauffeured in Rolls Royces,” Bisping said.

“Evander Holyfield said, ‘it’s hard to get out and run at 6 a.m. when you’re sleeping in silk sheets. Fighters, we’re hungry and want to turn it around. Maybe we’re cut from the same type of cloth or the wrong side of town. We like to fight and that’s our only hope. The dream is to make some money and turn your life around, he’s done that in a big way and he’s never going to go skint.

“That’s not an insult, that’s just the reality of the situation. It doesn’t mean he can’t go out there and have a great performance and win, because he can. It’s going to be a tough fight, though,” Bisping added.

That being said, Michael made it clear that he feels like Poirier has the psychological edge leading into this rubber match. Although he still has a lot of respect for the Irishman for trying to get revenge on Poirier for knocking him out.

“I think the psychological battle goes to Poirier, though, as he just knocked him out. I respect Conor McGregor for stepping in there like that,” Bisping said.

“I’ve been knocked out in this sport before, the next time you fight there’s some psychological demons there. Conor is stepping in straight away against the person who knocked him out cold. I admire his courage there. It will be interesting to see how the fight turns out.”

Do you think Michael Bisping is right in his assessment of Conor McGregor? How do you see this third fight going between he and Dustin Poirier?

Published on May 31, 2021 at 12:54 pm
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