Conor McGregor is preparing for his fight at UFC 202 against Nate Diaz, and he clearly wants to get revenge for his second round tap out against the Stockton native.
Speaking at a media day in advance of the fight, McGregor revealed that he'd turned down a lot of money to appear in a movie, among other opportunities, to make sure that he was not distracted from the task of defeating Diaz.
"I wanted to solely focus on this," said McGregor "so that should tell you how much this fight means to me, and I've been preparing accordingly."
The Irishman has made some big adjustments to his training camp in advance of the fight, including looking to prepare specifically for his opponent, who proved resilient to the big shots that he landed throughout the opening round of their last bout.
Speaking to ESPN, McGregor revealed that he has invested a huge amount of money in making sure that this fight doesn't go the way of his last one.
Training across the globe in Dublin, Iceland and Las Vegas, McGregor said that "with gyms, cars, transport, flights, accommodations, I'd estimate we're talking a $300,000 camp here. This is a big, big expense; but what I make is big. So, in the bigger picture, it's rather small."
The camp includes Dillon Danis, who has been flown in to help with McGregor's grappling, while Conor Wallace has also came in to replicate the size and reach of Diaz in the buildup.
If he does get the win, it will be money well spent for the Dubliner. McGregor's purse from UFC 196 was reportedly in excess of $1 million, and after early figures from UFC 200 showed that there was a chance that the takings were not going to hit the highs of the last event to feature the Irishman, he may be poised to take home even more this time.
McGregor also told ESPN that he was able to focus on one opponent in this fight given that he can say, with a degree of certainty, that Diaz is not going to pull out and force them to find another opponent on short notice.
"I do not recall him pulling out of a contest before," McGregor said. "I feel he will be there and that's it. I'm very happy with that. It's a nice feeling for a change.
"I've never had that. They always pull. They always have. It's nice to have this feeling that the man will show up. The man I'm set to face will be there. So, the preparation has been there."
Via ESPN
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