UFC veteran Michael Bisping believes the old version of Conor McGregor no longer exists.
Bisping, who now does commentary work for the UFC, has been there and seen it all in mixed martial arts. From his Ultimate Fighter upbringing to winning the UFC middleweight title and beyond, few voices hold more meaning or substance than his.
“He gets chauffeured in Rolls Royces.”
During a recent interview with talkSPORT, Bisping spoke about the current run of Conor McGregor and what he thinks has changed since he rose up through the ranks and became a two-weight UFC champion.
“The Conor McGregor of old is just like the me of old. It doesn’t exist anymore,” Bisping said. “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 million dollar watches. He gets chauffeured in Rolls Royces.”
“[Former boxing champion] Evander Holyfield said ‘it’s hard to get out and run at 6am 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.”
Bisping went on to insist that he doesn’t feel like McGregor has no chance in his trilogy bout against Poirier.
“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.”
McGregor will face Dustin Poirier for the third time at UFC 264 in Las Vegas on July 10.
Featured image credit: Getty