Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show on Monday features a preview of UFC 246, including a taped interview with the biggest name in MMA: Conor McGregor. The former two-division UFC champion will make his first appearance in the Octagon since October 2018 in the main event against Donald Cerrone on Saturday night.
Two of McGregor’s coaches are scheduled to join the Show: head coach John Kavanagh and striking coach Owen Roddy.
Also set to appear are former UFC champions Dominick Cruz, Eddie Alvarez and Anthony Pettis, and Roxanne Modafferi, who will face the unbeaten Maycee Barber on Saturday.
Watch the show:
Conor McGregor focused, ready for UFC 246
Conor McGregor sat down with Ariel Helwani for a wide-ranging interview.
Here are some of the key topics with answers edited for length and clarity. A full transcript will follow after the show.
Getting back on track
“I find I’m at my best when I must do something, and I know I must do it, and I do it. I execute it. And that’s what I’m doing right now. That’s what I have done. The training has been phenomenal. My coaches, my team, everyone’s been in sync together. And we’ve had a great camp and we’re very, very happy here. And obviously, it’s good to be back in Las Vegas. I hadn’t been in Vegas in a while. Am very excited. Very happy.”
Why he still fights
“For me, it’s not about money. I’m in a position where it’s forever money. This is not for money for me. No amount of money will stop my hunger for this and my hunger to compete and entertain and just live my life the way I want to live it and the way I enjoy to live it. Too much money without an awareness of it in the past can be dangerous. There’s no limits. There’s no boundaries. You can do anything. You can go anywhere. I know what I want to do and what I enjoy doing. And this is what I enjoy doing. And so I’m going to keep doing it. Now I’m doing it full steam ahead and I’m in the best shape of my life. Mental and physical.”
What he’ll take away from a turbulent 2019
“A learning year, a year of figuring out myself and my situation. 2020, the year of perfect vision. I’ve actually got better vision than 2020. I was in the eye exam and they said I have 20-15. The last one they said 20-10, then the lady was like 2015. 2010 is like a bionic eye. So I think I’ve got good eyesight. Let’s just say that.”
His kids saved him and his career
“My heart is full with my kids. They are here with me now in Las Vegas. We have a Vegas residence, and it’s great to be back in the Vegas home with the family. Dee’s here, my sisters are here helping out. I am absolutely amazed and I’m very, very blessed. What a time for it to happen for me. Right on the money for me. I needed my kids to help me. And they have helped me. And I’m very, very happy and very, very proud.”
Not responding to allegations
“Time. Patience. Patience is a skill we must master. Patience is one of the most valuable skills a human being must master. And I’m working hard to master it, and I feel I’m getting there. So time, time will show. That’s it. Right now, I’m focused on the bout. Focused on positivity, good thoughts. And I’ll say a prayer for those who try to cross me or try to bring harm to me with these types of things, and that’s it.
“Yes, of course (he denies the allegations). Yes, f—ing, Ariel, come on, seriously? Time, please, that’s all. Time will reveal all, time will tell all. And then that’s it.”
How did Cerrone become his opponent?
“Well, I said I’d fight him. I mean, me and Donald had a history. And it’s an exciting bout. It’s a fan-friendly bout. It’s a fight that excites me. And it’s a fight that I said I’d partake. And I appreciate it. I appreciate Donald. He’s fought a lot of times. He’s also a family man, with his grandmother and these things. I appreciate that. And I respect that.
“I also respect the method he went about [getting the fight], with the Proper whiskey and you know. So much work goes into these things, and to have a bit of respect, I appreciate that. And I look forward to having a good bout.
“It’s going to be a good night. I’m going to shine here on Jan. 18. I’m going to create magic inside the Octagon, like I have done many times before. But this is gonna be something special.”
Abstinence from alcohol for this camp, different from camp for Khabib
1:42
Conor McGregor reflects on the buildup to his fight vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov and says he’s in a much better place now. Order UFC 246 here on ESPN https://plus.espn.com/ufc/ppv.
“(I haven’t had a drink since) three, four months ago, maybe, yeah?. I was drinking all bleeding fight week the last time (training for Nurmagomedov). I was on the Conan O’Brien show … [motions to his mouth, simulating taking a drink.]
“I don’t know (what I was doing), just not living the life that I should be living, and that’s it. I’m not going back there. I mean, I’m in a great spot now, and that’s it. And I’ve put … I’ve made mistakes. And, you know, I’ve been man enough to admit them and correct them. And that’s what I’ve done.
“I mean, I might not be perfect, Ariel, right? But with a good sleep and a full belly, I’m damn close.”
Possibly $80 million for Cerrone bout?
1:19
Conor McGregor says he’s signed a new deal with the UFC and estimates how much he’ll make to fight Donald Cerrone. Order UFC 246 here on ESPN https://plus.espn.com/ufc/ppv.
“We’ve got a good deal. Very happy. Very excited to see how it unfolds, right? Like I said, this is a new setup with it, but I’m confident it’s gonna be a good and nice paycheck. I’m estimating a good $80 million. They think I’m toast, Ariel, but I’m still the bread.”
A rematch with Floyd Mayweather?
1:41
Conor McGregor expresses interest in a boxing rematch vs. Floyd Mayweather and looks back at what went wrong for him in the first bout.
“I’d like to rematch Floyd. I think we should rematch Floyd. I mean, he’s flirting with it, and they want all this. And he can go and pick someone else. It’s not gonna be the same. It’s not. I’ve done phenomenal in that bout.
“I know I’d beat Floyd, I’d beat Floyd if we rematched, when we rematch. He’s not gonna do a mixed martial arts bout like he said. It was supposed to be me boxing, and then we’ll do a mixed martial arts bout. That was what was said. And it came out of his mouth as well, and it was not written, but it was a verbal agreement. And obviously, that’s not gonna happen. I’m not going to push him on that, either. But I would like to box him. I think that would be a good rematch.
“You never know (if it could happen this year).”
A Manny Pacquiao boxing match?
1:07
Conor McGregor says there have been talks to box Manny Pacquiao and proclaims he’ll win a boxing world title. Order UFC 246 here on ESPN https://plus.espn.com/ufc/ppv.
“We’re actually close to signing (with) Manny. There’s been talks about the Manny fight as well. There was an offer made on that, yeah.
“Just not yet. Not yet. Very much so (a possibility).”
Celebrities make their picks on Conor-Cowboy
2:39
Action Bronson, Becky Lynch and other celebrities make their picks for Conor McGregor’s fight with Donald Cerrone.
Anthony Pettis: Ready for return to lightweight
Coming off a loss to Nate Diaz at UFC 241 in August, Anthony Pettis said he’s rejuvenated heading into his fight this weekend at UFC 246.
He’ll need to be. His opponent is Diego Ferreira, who has won five in a row. Pettis, meanwhile, hasn’t come close to putting together a streak like that in years. He’s traded wins and losses in his past eight fights dating back to 2016.
The fight with Ferreira is taking place at 155 pounds, which is a move back down in weight for Pettis, whose past two fights came as a welterweight. The former UFC lightweight champ said he’s highly motivated for this bout.
“Really, I fell in love with the process of training again,” Pettis said. “This camp, I did my own nutrition. I always have a nutritionist, but I made all my own meals – I’ve never done that before. … I fell back in love with the process and I’m excited about it.”
Another reason for Pettis to be excited: his younger brother Sergio’s first fight in Bellator on Jan. 25.
Sergio Pettis, a bantamweight with an 18-5 career record, had 14 fights in the UFC before recently signing with Bellator. He’ll take on Alfred Khashakyan in Los Angeles.
Anthony Pettis said there’s no way he’d miss it.
“To see where he’s at right now makes me proud,” Pettis said. “He’s making good money doing a sport that we do as a family and he’s about to go bring the Pettis name over to Bellator, so I’ll be there.”
Eddie Alvarez: Cerrone with the tools, but McGregor with the edge
Eddie Alvarez has been in the cage with Conor McGregor. He has been in there with Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone. And those experiences tell him that Saturday night’s fight will have been decided before either man steps into the cage.
“This fight, for Cerrone, is won or lost in the locker room before he comes out,” Alvarez said during Monday’s appearance on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show. “He needs to be hot. He needs to do a full sparring round before he comes out. He needs to come out as if it’s the second round.”
That observation echoed the analysis of Dominick Cruz, who’d been on the Helwani just moments earlier. It is well known that Cerrone is a notoriously slow starter and that “The Notorious” McGregor explodes out of the starting gate.
Alvarez is one of just three fighters who have faced both McGregor and Cerrone. He represents the last win on McGregor’s resume, as he dropped his UFC lightweight championship via second-round TKO in a dominant performance by the Irishman on Nov. 12, 2016. Alvarez’s last previous loss came against Cerrone, via decision, on Sept. 27, 2014.
The other common opponents for Conor and Cowboy: Nate Diaz and Dennis Siver.
Alvarez, who now fights for the One Championship, believes Cerrone has more diverse fighting tools than McGregor, when one factors in his kicks, knees, punch combinations and jiu-jitsu. Problem is, those skills often have revealed themselves only from Round 2 on.
How can Cerrone arrive in the cage for Round 1 ready to go? Alvarez recalled being backstage before one of his own fights and asking then-UFC flyweight Sergio Pettis to go a round of sparring with him. It ended with their coaches separating them because things got so heated. “I felt like I needed that,” said Alvarez. “I needed to come out hot.”
Alvarez also recalled sharing a dressing room with McGregor and gaining insight on why he is able to start so fast. “He was sparring sand beating the s— out of [training partner] Artem [Lobov] for like an hour,” he said.
The key for Cerrone once the fight starts, said Alvarez, is staying in kicking range, where he’s most dangerous, and out of boxing range. But he doesn’t envision McGregor allowing that to happen.
“Conor’s gonna force and pressure Cerrone,” said Alvarez, “and he’s gonna draw bad punches out of him, and he’s gonna be able to counter those bad punches.”
Dominick Cruz: The first round is key for Donald Cerrone
Dominick Cruz has been watching a lot of film in preparation for Saturday’s UFC 246 main event between Conor McGregor and Donald Cerrone, for his ESPN show Unlocking Victory. He’ll be breaking down each fighter’s approach in great detail later in the week, but Cruz offered his vision for how Cerrone could push this fight into a more favorable direction for himself.
“Cerrone has to stay tall and he needs to make sure that he’s throwing combinations, ending his combinations with a kick. The fight that I like to look back at with Cerrone — if he shows up like this I think he’ll do really well — it’s against Rick Story [in 2016].
“Rick Story was a big 170-pounder and Cerrone was coming over and he did really well in that fight. Now, Rick Story’s standup is not Conor McGregor’s standup, we all know that. However, it’s a southpaw that’s very powerful and it’s more the habits that Cerrone uses in that fight, if you want to go back and watch, that I think would really work against a guy like Conor… It’s long combinations — slowing, finishing with kicks, either high or low.
“He’s going to want to attack the body of Conor early. And he’s going to want to attack the legs of Conor early. But more than anything, I think the key for Cerrone is to come out already having a first round of fighting in the back, so that when he shows up to that Octagon, he’s in his second round already, because Conor McGregor comes out on fire in the first round and leaves almost nothing in the tank in that first round.
“Cerrone, if you look, habitually doesn’t show up like that in the first… If you just watch any of [Cerrone’s] fights, after the first round, when he comes out in the second round, he looks different. He looks awake. He looks like a different fighter. His punches are faster. His reactions are different. His defense is improved. Everything looks better.
“He takes a lot of damage, and he almost takes getting punched a little bit before he shows up in the second, third, fourth, fifth round. And he really usually wins those last four rounds, but that first round, rarely have I seen Cerrone come out awake. And never have I seen him come out as awake as Conor does in the first round.
“If he can make that adjustment, we’ll have a very good first round, and if this fight comes out of the second round into three, four and five, I see it getting closer and closer, edging towards Cerrone with a good chance of getting this win.
Helwani Show lineup
On now: John Kavanagh, McGregor’s head coach, previews Saturday’s comeback fight for McGregor.