It looks like the Irish featherweight title contender Conor McGregor's antics while promoting the upcoming title fight was just a part of his master plan to get under the champ's skin before they meet in the Octagon.
During a recent open workout Conor McGregor (17-2) revealed that his constant annoyance of Jose Aldo were simply meant to break his opponent down while his mental strength was at its rock bottom.
"They are done with the game. I am only on my way in, so I knew his mind was beat throughout that world tour. I knew he would have flown straight back to Brazil and went heavy, heavy at it," he said. "Heavy rounds, heavy training. Having the whole of Brazil on his back. The pressure on him to beat this loud-mouth Irish kid. Heavy, heavy rounds. The body breaks."
"The Notorious" explained the techniques he used to enrage the featherweight champion while promoting their mega fight at UFC 189.
"The world tour was just a combination of me looking at him dead in the eye and telling him what was gonna happen to him," McGregor said.
He added, "I knew he does not speak English, so I spoke in his native tongue in Rio de Janeiro and told him he will die. And then that was it."
According to reports on Sports Joe, McGregor is confident that the way Joe reacted to his verbal sparring sessions is exactly how he will respond to the fight inside the cage next month.
"It's the same way in the fight I'll go in, I'll set him up, he'll react to what I'm doing. I'll put him down, raise the belt and boom. I was just mimicking what will happen July 11 in Las Vegas," McGregor noted.
"I knew his body was tired. I knew his mind was drained. He's on his way out of the game. All you gotta do is look. He's looking for his exit."
From Rio de Janeiro to Dublin, McGregor annoyed Aldo on every stop.
McGregor and Aldo visited eight cities in five countries over two weeks in March. McGregor went as far as saying that Aldo was going to die in Rio, swiping his belt in Los Angeles and then ripping the belt from Aldo in Dublin, MMA Fighting noted.
The showdown between the two men got more and more intense as the tour continued.
That being said, it looks like McGregor's mind games are not really working out the way he'd like them to.
Contrary to what McGregor believed that Aldo went back to Brazil to train like crazy, the reigning UFC featherweight champion went on vacation.
"I went to the beach," he said. "I done yoga. I done gymnastics. I worked balance stuff. I flew out specific individuals just to train, just to keep the body fresh."
With six more weeks left until the mega bout, McGregor is currently training with his team in Las Vegas, where they are set up in a lavish seven-bedroom mansion. Aldo, on the other hand is in Rio de Janeiro at his ace gym Nova Uniao.
Conor McGregor looks all set and confident about the bout going exactly how the world tour went. However, will his mind games really have any role to play when he battles Jose Aldo in the Octagon?
