Conor McGregor reacts to Ireland's Rhys McKee and Caolan Loughran's UFC Paris losses
MMA superstar Conor McGregor has reacted to fellow Irish athletes Rhys McKee and Caolan Loughran's fights at the UFC Paris event that took place on September 2.
McGregor uploaded a post on social media where he shared words of motivation for the two fighters after they lost their respective encounters at the UFC event. 'The Notorious' praised them for their performances and for entertaining the crowd present at the Accor Arena in Paris.
'Mystic Mac' expressed his appreciation for McKee and Loughran and asked for them to bounce back stronger from their losses.
"Well done Ireland’s Rhys McKee and Caolan Loughran showing heart, skill and grit tonight, and bringing the crowd alive! Proud! Onwards we go! Back to the drawing board. We get this job done."
Rhys McKee went up against Ange Loosa in a welterweight clash in the prelims of UFC Paris. 'Skeletor' got outclassed by his opponent for the majority of the fight and ended up on the losing side via unanimous decision. The three judges scored the contest 30-27, 29-28, and 29-28 in favor of Loosa.
After the loss, McKee is now 0-3 in the UFC.
Caolan Loughran locked horns against Taylor Lapilus in a bantamweight clash. This fight also went the distance and all three judges scored it 29-28 in favor of Lapilus.
The fight marked the first loss of Loughran's professional MMA career. He is now 8-1 as a fighter.
Conor McGregor reacts to the success of the UFC Paris event
UFC Paris on September 2 marked the top MMA promotion's second-ever fight event in the country of France. The event, which was headlined by a heavyweight clash between Serghei Spivac and France's own Ciryl Gane, earned an impressive $4 million in gate revenue. The number was bigger in comparison to UFC's first Paris event which earned a gate revenue of approximately $3.2 million.
The event on September 2 also marginally outperformed the first UFC Paris event as it had 15,610 people in attendance in comparison to the 15,405 people who showed up for the first event.
Conor McGregor took to Twitter to share his thoughts on the success of the event and shared optimism for a UFC fight card to take place in Ireland soon.
"Lovely gate for Europe. Nice collection here, great to see! Well done UFC Europe team! There is money in Europe! Excited for Ireland event," wrote Conor McGregor.