‘Focused’ McGregor ready for his second coming

CONOR McGREGOR’S career of late has been a series of competitive disappointments and continuous legal troubles – but he is vowing to be ‘a better version of himself’. While his side career as a whiskey distiller has enhanced his fortune, his endeavours in a boxing ring or a cage, where he has competed just twice — losing both — since 2016, have damaged his fighting legacy. ‘Consistency and structure was missing,’ the Dubliner said at a UFC press conference to publicise his fight in Las Vegas in the early hours of tomorrow morning. ‘Structure. I was sporadic with my work and with my life. I’m a lot more centred now, a lot more grounded and a lot more focused. ‘With activity, with consistency and with structure, I can do anything, like I have done already,’ claimed McGregor. Nearly 16 months after he lost to Khabib Nurmagomedov in his only MMA fight in over three years, McGregor (21-4) returns to the cage at TMobile Arena off the Las Vegas Strip against Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone, a fellow veteran brawler and UFC stalwart attempting a comeback. McGregor is promising a productive, active year. ‘I want to be the best version of myself,’ McGregor said. ‘Everyone is saying they want the old Conor, the Conor that fought in 2016, the Conor that fought Eddie (Alvarez for the lightweight title). I feel I’m in a better place than that. I have a better skill set than that. I’m more experienced. ‘That’s certainly a drive of mine, to be a better version of myself.’