UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor always has a lot to say leading up to a fight. The master at self promotion taunts his opponents, unleashes an array of one-liners, and boasts about his greatness. The build-up to his UFC 196 showdown with Nate Diaz was no different.
During the pre-fight press conference, McGregor was asked who the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world was, and, of course, the Irishman said that he held the top nine positions while Jon Jones and Demetrious Johnson were tenth. After Diaz finished McGregor in the second round of Saturday’s main event, Jones posted a photo on Instagram in response to McGregor’s pound-for-pound claims.
“So much for being 12345678&9,” Jones wrote.
After initially taking a jab at McGregor, Jones posted a video praising the featherweight champion for his humility in defeat.
“I wanted to take a quick second to shoutout Conor McGregor for the way he handled defeat,” Jones said in a video posted on Instagram. “He really handled it like a champion.”
Jones captioned the video with, “Gained even more respect for @thenotoriousmma last night.”
