Conor McGregor was quick enough to captivate the MMA world with his sharp tongue, precise left hook, and his unapologetic demeanor. ‘The Notorious’s meteoric rise was at its peak when he defeated Jose Aldo. But not too long after, he fell hard following his unwavering rivalry with Khabib Nurmagomedov. At UFC 229, he was humbled in a one-sided defeat that exposed not just technical gaps but personal vulnerabilities. And now, Georges St-Pierre dropped his analysis about the rise and fall of ‘Mystic Mac’. 

During a recent conversation with Logan Paul on IMPAULSIVE Podcast, GSP said, “There’s a lot of psychological warfare in our sport, and people try to get to you. They can’t get to you physically. They try to make you derail, you know, mentally.” And that’s how McGregor managed to knock Aldo out in just 13 seconds into their bout at UFC 194. The Canadian star claimed, “Conor McGregor, what he did was he planned it. He planned it. And Jose Aldo went crazy, tried to… He was enraged. Look what happened.” 

So what happened during UFC 229? The former UFC double champion deployed his trash talk to try and derail ‘The Eagle’. However, it was the Dagestani who forced McGregor to tap out in the 4th round. According to Georges St-Pierre, it happened because of the same reason—the psychological warfare building up to the event. GSP went on, “Look what happened with Conor McGregor and Khabib. Same thing, like Conor went after, I think he said something about his family and so…” 

But this time around, things didn’t work in favor of the Irishman. St-Pierre claimed, “As soon as you expose these things, especially in mixed martial arts, guys will do anything to get to you. Because it’s not like a game like baseball, football. The outcome of a loss has, it’s could be way more dramatic. So, people will do anything. It’s a very dirty industry.”

On the other hand, Conor McGregor and his coach, John Kavanagh, had a difference of opinion. Let’s see what the SBG coach had to say about ‘Mystic Mac’s defeat at UFC 229. 

Conor McGregor’s coach points out the one mistake that cost him a win over Khabib Nurmagomedov

In a conversation with Ariel Helwani soon after McGregor’s defeat, Kavanagh pointed out that it was the defensive mentality that brought ‘The Notorious’ his loss against ‘The Eagle’. He claimed that the Irish fighter’s offensive game got him victories over Eddie Alvarez and Nate Diaz. The coach said, “If I could go back, maybe the mentality was a little too defensive. Conor’s a very offensive fighter and when his time to land was there—and we did have opportunities—it wasn’t there the way it was in the Eddie [Alvarez] fight, for example. The Eddie fight was off a big training camp for Diaz 2, which was off a big training camp for Diaz 1. So we had a lot of cage time.”

Another factor that played a huge role in McGregor’s defeat was the ring rust. After beating Alvarez at UFC 205, ‘Mystic Mac’ went to the boxing ring and fought Floyd Mayweather for a shipload of money in 2017. The fight against Nurmagomedov was his first MMA bout since UFC 205. Kavanagh continued, “This one, like you said, it’s almost two years out. I said I didn’t think ring rust would play a part, but I have to be honest, when I look at it now, when I replay it in my head, I do feel like it played a little bit of a part. He didn’t quite get his shots off like he normally would. I thought defensively he did quite well defending a lot of takedowns, especially in round 3.” 

Despite Nurmagomedov’s suffocating fighting style, McGregor won the third round by going on the offensive. Shots landed like they should have and that made the coach realize his error. He confessed, “If we could turn back time, I would have liked to spend more time on offense and capitalizing on those scenarios when they presented themselves, which they did.” 

But GSP isn’t wrong either. Had McGregor refrained from badmouthing Nurmagomedov’s family, the result may have been different. After all, it was ‘The Eagle’s emotional state that pushed him towards victory. And most of that came from McGregor ticking him off with his trash talk. But what do you think? Why did McGregor lose at UFC 229?