Conor McGregor: Ronda Rousey 'would throw me on my head in one second'

Conor McGregor is tough enough to beat most people in UFC, but there’s one person he wouldn’t like to face in the Octagon: Olympic bronze medallist and women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey.

McGregor, who knocked out Chad Mendes earlier this month to become the UFC’s interim featherweight champion, described Rousey as “unbelievable” in an interview with SI Now.

“I remember one time, I’d seen her, and I greeted her, and I said ‘What’s up champ?’ and we embraced. “I swear on my life: her back muscles were the most solidest [sic] back muscles I’d ever felt in my life,” McGregor said.

“I thought if this lady was to get a hold of me, she would throw me on my head in literally one second flat. So I would not like to engage in a clinch fight with Ronda.”

He might not like to do it, but McGregor still reckons he’d win. “But, make no mistake about it, I have my ways to win that fight, too,” he said.

McGregor, 27, recorded a second-round TKO over Mendes earlier this month to improve his record to 18-2 and claim the interim featherweight title.

Rousey, meanwhile, will put her undefeated record and bantamweight title on the line against Bethe Correia in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday night.

In the SI Now interview, McGregor credited Rousey with creating the women’s game.

“Ronda is certainly an absolute animal, and she is a special individual,” he said. “Two-time ESPYS winner, undefeated champion, dominant, finishes all opponents, movie star. I mean, Ronda is unbelievable.

“She has created the women’s game. Without her, all these women still would be going without food at night. But make no mistake about it: on the man’s side of the game, there’s only one, and that’s me. I hold every number in the game.”