Take the upper hand in the verbal sparring and carry it through to fight night. Conor McGregor modus operandi is well established at this stage. Throw out all kinds of nonsense and see what sticks. Anyone who is willing to look past the bravado can see that it's all an act.
No, Conor McGregor did not believe that Rafael dos Anjos deserted his country because of his reasonable level of English but he grabbed on to it and went with it because he could see it was having an effect. It's tried and trusted. So, when he went up against one of the UFC's other most notorious shit-talkers, there was bound to be some fireworks.
Sure enough, Diaz used last night's press conference to see just how easy it was to turn the tables and rattle the featherweight champ. McGregor's been vocal about PED use in MMA in the past so, Diaz threw that out and it stuck. He may usually have the upper hand but McGregor was rattled. He, legitimately didn't want his name connected with steroid use but it really didn't matter if there was any basis for it, all Diaz had to do was get under his skin.
Perhaps it was all the training and all the renegotiations over the past couple of days, but one way or another McGregor allowed himself to be wound up and all of a sudden, the PED usage is the big news angle to come out of the press conference.
However, speaking to ESPN after things had calmed down, a significantly more serene, some might even say tired-looking McGregor addressed Diaz's comments away from the heat of battle.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwzVGH7zbQQ
