Conor McGregor branded ‘a pussy cat’ as UFC legacy questioned by former champion

Conor McGregor has undeniably transcended the sport of MMA, becoming a household name across the globe just as much for his antics outside of the octagon as his skills inside it.

However, the trash-talking, hard hitting McGregor is a thing of the past according to ex-world champion Michael Bisping, although he did go on to explain how McGregor deserves a large amount of respect of for fighting Dustin Poirer for a third time later this summer.

The pair will go toe to toe again in Las Vegas on July 10, this time in front of 20,000 spectators. Though 'The Notorious won the first bout back in 2014, their second battle is fresh in the memory as Poirier beat McGregor earlier this year in Abu Dhabi.

In the second fight, many fans noticed McGregor's more toned down approach in the build up, showing a lot of respect to his opponent rather than the cutting insults his followers had grown accustomed to.

Talking to talkSPORT, Bisping believes this 'friendlier' version of McGregor is the product of his achievements and status away from the sport.

He explained: "The Conor McGregor of old is just like the me of old. It doesn’t exist anymore, I’m a nice guy, I’m a pussy cat, but I used to be a bit of a nightmare.

"With Conor McGregor, it’s the same thing. The man’s loaded. He’s pulling up on $100million yachts and got million dollar watches. He gets chauffeured in Rolls Royces.

"[Former boxing champion] Evander Holyfield said ‘it’s hard to get out and run at 6am when you’re sleeping in silk sheets’."

Bisping went on to give an insight into a UFC champions mentality, claiming: "Fighters, we’re hungry and want to turn it around. Maybe we’re cut from the same type of cloth or the wrong side of town.

"We like to fight and that’s our only hope. The dream is to make some money and turn your life around, he’s done that in a big way and he’s never going to go skint.

"That’s not an insult, that’s just the reality of the situation. It doesn’t mean he can’t go out there and have a great performance and win, because he can. It’s going to be a tough fight though."

The upcoming trilogy bout will be hard to call, with Poirier the number one ranked fighter in the division, McGregor fifth.

"Whoever wins that fight should certainly go on to fight for the belt,” Bisping explained, "They are the most high profile in that division and are ranked high enough – Dustin was an interim champion and Conor is a former champion.

"The fight, whoever wins that will fight for the belt, as long as they don’t get injured.

"Who knows how it will go. In the first fight, Conor knocked him out pretty quickly in the first round. In the second fight, Dustin knocked him out in the second round. "

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