Conor McGregor, the outspoken interim UFC featherweight champion, is finally going to fight the full champion, Jose Aldo, on Saturday night. As usual, McGregor’s mouth has not stopped running – and it’s reminiscent of boxing’s newest champion Tyson Fury.
A fellow Irishman, Fury upset Wladimir Klitschko Nov. 28 after talking a big game, and disrespecting the champion at every turn. Fury sees the similarities as well, and said he thinks McGregor has copied his style.
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“I think he copied me in everything he does," Fury told Ariel Helwani. "I was the first trash talker - big time - in these shores, first one in Ireland. Then all of a sudden, he started copying me, this Conor McGregor guy.
"I grew a big beard. He grew a big beard. I talk bulls--t about everybody, he starts talking bulls--t about everybody. And it worked for the heavyweight champ of the world. It must work for Conor McGregor, some guy who's like 140 pounds or whatever is."
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McGregor didn’t shy away from responding to Fury. "I'll continue to say that I am my own man. I am on my own journey. Tyson is an amusing character, but I am me! I am nobody else but me."
Then he got back to the business of Aldo, who is on an 18-fight winning streak and hasn’t been beaten since 2005. The two were supposed to fight months ago, but Aldo pulled out of the match because of a rib injury. McGregor believes he could have fought through it, but was trying to duck him.
"Respect for me is earned through battle," McGregor said to Fox. "If he shows up, fights with his heart, he'll earn my respect, but I cannot respect a man who has ran, who has evaded.
"If he stands in front of me in the Octagon and gives me the exchanges he says he can, he will earn my respect."
Speaking of respect, Fury ended his McGregor tirade by shockingly saying he was a fan.
"I've never met him, but the guy is a very entertaining character," Fury said. "Conor McGregor got me actually physically watching MMA and wanted to check the results. Because the way he was carrying on, I thought, 'This guy has definitely got a bit of me self in this guy. I want to check him out.’”
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