Conor McGregor has been hailed a "legend" by his former UFC rival TJ Dillashaw despite their bitter feud during The Ultimate Fighter in 2015.
The Irishman branded then-bantamweight champion Dillashaw a "snake in the grass" amid drama between he, his coach Duane Ludwig and teammate Urijah Faber, who was McGregor's rival coach on the show. And a brawl infamously broke out between the two teams after he suggested that Faber and Dillashaw, who at the time hadn't ended their relationship, should fight.
Now, Dillashaw is hoping to reclaim the bantamweight belt for a third time at the age of 36 after returning from suspension for using a banned substance. Meanwhile McGregor has come and gone from the world title scene at featherweight and lightweight, with the pair never really crossing paths again after that incident.
But the American admits that McGregor's accolades both in and outside of the octagon, where he won gold at 145lb and 155lb simultaneously, have made him one of the greats. In a chat with Mirror Fighting ahead of his fight with Aljamain Sterling at UFC 280, he explained that they haven't spoken since, but showed respect for his career
"The guy's too f***ing busy, I'm sure," Dillashaw said when asked if they had linked up afterwards. "He's a legend at what he's been able to do through the sport as well as in business. At the beginning of my career I liked to hate on him because I was the champion at the time and he was trying to make his way up.
"I felt like he was getting all this exposure and all this undeserved stuff but then you see what he was able to do. I guess you don't really realise how much work you have to put into the promotion to become a superstar like that. To do the s*** he had to do is a lot of work and a lot of the time it's stuff I'm not willing to do. I'm not willing to be theatrical and all over the place, so you've got to hone in on his work ethic and that was something he did great at."
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And despite McGregor's recent failures to gain consistency in the octagon, Dillashaw still believes that he's "on top of the world". The Irishman is 1-3 since he won his second undisputed belt in 2016, but has made hundreds of millions for his fighting as well as his businesses including Proper Twelve whiskey.
"I wasn't surprised by it," Dillashaw said of McGregor's unfortunate run of results. "I mean, there's a lot of great fighters in the UFC and he's got some holes that have been exposed, but he's still on top of the f***ing world. He's got a Lamborghini yacht, he's f***ing rolling deep.
"That's the point of this whole game; to line your pockets, and he's done a very good job of that! It is what it is when it comes to staying on top and for how long. Not everyone can be as motivated as you need to be when you have that much money."
Dillashaw was speaking as an ambassador for online privacy. If fans want to learn more about how to protect themselves online, he asks that they visit joindeleteme.com.
