Speaking on this evening's Friday night BODcast, Brian O'Driscoll further clarified comments he made about Conor McGregor.
Speaking about his own mid-career confidence struggles on Jarlath Regan’s Irishman Abroad podcast (which will go live Sunday on iTunes and Soundcloud), O’Driscoll is reported to have said: “Any sportsman who says he lives without doubt isn't even deluded, he’s a liar.
“That’s all sports people. Some people might trick themselves into thinking they’re more confident than they are but it’s impossible to maintain.”
O'Driscoll said he "wasn't surprised" that media outlets had ran with the story in a "O'Driscoll slams McGregor" narrative.
"Listen, it doesn't really overly shock me to see. People just tend to read headlines, but then a click through most of the time will have nothing to do with the article.
"Not to give much away, it's referencing self doubt. There's no doubt that he doesn't have any self doubt now. But I think in all sports people, my experience is that some form of self doubt creeps in the longer you're in it.
"When the body starts to ail a little bit, in quieter darker moments, there may be that uncertainty that whether or not you'll be able to do things the same way.... That was my tongue lashing."
He went on to say that it may not be that the mixed martial artist will be beaten, but that he may endure an injury that proves difficult to overcome.
"[The self doubt] could come in the form of an injury. It may be as simple as that, where you can't shake something off or you pick up a training injury and there's frustration."
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