5 times Conor McGregor successfully got under the skin of his opponents by playing mind games

#2 UFC 178: Conor McGregor vs Dustin Poirier

Rewind the clocks ⏳⏮ Look back on @DustinPoirier vs @TheNotoriousMMA from #UFC178 now. #UFC257 pic.twitter.com/fgl3FuQ60l

— UFC (@ufc) November 23, 2020

Conor McGregor came up as the aggressor when he faced Dustin Poirier for the first time at UFC 178. The featherweight matchup was also supposed to be a big step-up in competition for McGregor, who was yet to become the superstar that he is today.

However, the Irishman put all doubts at bay with a first-round knockout of Dustin Poirier. Poirier has since admitted that Conor McGregor's trash talk played a big role in his loss at UFC 178.

Usually a calm fighter, Dustin Poirier was visibly on his edge in the presence of 'The Notorious One'. Detailing the UFC 178 pre-fight presser, UFC broadcaster Megan Olivi said:

"I’d known Dustin for a very long time and remember seeing a marked difference in hisdemeanorr. I remember being sad that Dustin’s wife [Jolie] was going to be so stressed out by the situation, even though Conor didn’t involve her in any way. Dustin was a bit more emotional than we’d seen him before. [At the pre-fight press conference] there was a lot of animosity on stage, but Conor seemed to thrive in that, whereas with Dustin you could tell... it was taking everything in him to restrain himself."

#1 UFC 194: Conor McGregor vs Jose Aldo

Conor McGregor is often said to have put an end to the career of former UFC featherweight king Jose Aldo. Once considered the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, Aldo was never the same fighter after his title loss to McGregor at UFC 194.

What is even more interesting is the trash talk that led to Conor McGregor's highlight reel knockout win over Jose Aldo. In one of the most savage trash-talking moments of his career, McGregor said:

“I own this town. I own Rio de Janeiro. I’m sitting up here with my feet on the desk. What’s anyone up there going to do about it? Not one of yous are going to do anything about it. My name, the McGregor name, my family’s motto … means royal is in my blood. That goes way back. So for [Aldo] to say he is the king and I am the joker, if this was a different time, I would invade his favela on horseback and kill anyone that was not fit to work. But we are in a new time. So I’ll whoop his ass in July.”

Conor McGregor backed up his words by dispatching Jose Aldo with a single punch 13 seconds into the opening round. The Brazilian fighter even went on to accept the benefits of trash talking later in his life.