Conor McGregor: “I’m here to win all the belts, and then I’m gone.”

With just over two weeks until UFC 196, SevereMMA’s own Andrew McGahon caught up with UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor earlier tonight at Straight Blast Gym in Dublin ahead of his UFC lightweight title bout with Rafael dos Anjos on one of the biggest combat cards of the year next month. As usual, McGregor had plenty to say for himself and was in rare form.

After comments made earlier this week, Donald Cerrone was the first to take some heat from McGregor who was unimpressed with “Cowboy’s” performance against dos Anjos back in December 2015.

“Cerrone pussied out of that one big time.” McGregor said.

“That’s why he can fight again next week.”

“Ask Aldo can he fight this weekend. He cannot fight. When you win by KO, by stoppage, by a true stoppage you put your opponent out of action for 10 months to a year.”

“He (Cerrone) quit in there, inside that octagon. That’s why he can go now next week and he can say I fight every week, and this and that, but you can fight every week if you go in and quit. If you’re willing to die in there then you wouldn’t be able to have them turnarounds.”

“Dos Anjos won it, I chose him and was hunting for that second belt to replicate what I’ve done and that’s it.”

On whether he had a hand in choosing his opponent McGregor was unequivocal on how the process goes.

“I am picking what I want and I am doing what I want.” McGregor said. “When you can rack up $400m in revenue for the company in back to back events, you can do whatever the fuck you want.”

“I’m living the ‘what the fuck I want’ life. That’s the life I live, whatever I want, whenever I want. I have earned that through hard work, through sacrifice and through victory.”

With rumours swirling about the possibility of a move to welterweight to challenge for a third belt in the future McGregor was as forthright and confident as ever.

“I’m coming for that belt, I’m coming for the next belt, I’m coming for the whole company.” McGregor said.

“Why not go up?”

“They get slower, and they get less free up there, they are stiffer, they are even more stuck than the lightweight division. So I’ll keep going, keep eating, keep training and keep going until all the belts are wrapped up.”

“I’m afraid of no one, I will go up and fight any weight.” McGregor continued. “Anyone can come down and step in that cage with me or any cage and see how they fare, but nobody fares well that’s for sure.”

“How many times have you seen a champion instantly go up? How many years have you heard about superfights? How many times have you heard about a little sore toe, an opponent bounce?”

“There are pussies everywhere in this game and that’s it.. I dunno.. I’m here to fight, I’m here to win every belt and then I’m gone and then I’ll see the game later, I’ll walk away from this game, I’ll set it ablaze and walk away. And that’s it.”

McGregor also revealed that he has committed to UFC 200 but wants to fight on the East Coast of America or in his hometown of Dublin following the landmark event in Las Vegas this summer.

“I’ll go back to ‘The Point’, no bother.” McGregor said.

“I haven’t outgrown that. I haven’t outgrown my home town. I’m still fucking here.”

“Vegas this one, Vegas next one probably because I committed to UFC 200, I did commit to that, then East coast or Dublin.” McGregor said.

“I got my teammates on way back, we got some teammates on recently, Artem and that, let’s get the next generation on. It’s my fucking pleasure to keep bringing my people in with me here.”

He also commented on the growing talk of him breaking away from the UFC with a promotion of his own and the speculation about his relationship with UFC president Dana White.

“That’s all horseshit, that is.”McGregor said.

“I have a great relationship with Lorenzo and a great relationship with Dana.”

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m climbing that corporate ladder every damn day and we will be neck and neck.”

“Maybe somewhere along the line I will take that lions share. But we will always be together. Loyalty is what I have. They gave me this, they are helping me with this and I am helping them, we are a team, so much respect to Dana, much respect to Lorenzo, much respect to everyone involved in the UFC.”

“I’m not trying to break out, I’m just trying to grow, be eye-to-eye and get my share of the fucking pie and that’s it and they know that.”

“I will always be in association with Zuffa and the great team at the UFC, it’s an honour to grow with this company.”