Conor McGregor is more nervous on talk shows than inside Octagon

If you ask most fighters, they’ll tell you that there are always butterflies before heading into a fight. But when you ask Conor McGregor about pre-fight jitters, his response may surprise you.

"You know, for me [the Octagon] is where I'm almost the least nervous," McGregor said during an appearance on “The Herd” with Colin Cowherd. "There are other things that might make me nervous. Things like doing the Conan O'Brien Show. I might get a little more nervous for these unusual things than I would walking out to the Octagon. Walking out to Octagon and stepping into a cage is something I literally do every single day of my life.”

It might sound odd that the current UFC featherweight champion — who will face Nate Diaz at 170 pounds this weekend at UFC 196 — is more nervous about appearing on a talk show than dealing with an opponent who is looking to knock him unconscious. But that’s the way McGregor operates. Perhaps this lack of nerves is the reason why McGregor has been dominant during his tenure in the UFC and his 13-second knockout of Jose Aldo could be a testament to his relaxed mental state.

“I enter, I come out the gate fast and I spin and I set the tone for the unorthodox and then set my opponent up for a KO blow and then I execute it,” McGregor said. “It's simply another day for me."

As relaxed as McGregor is on fight night, he certainly can be the exact opposite in the buildup to a fight. Known as one of the premiere trash talkers in all of combat sports, McGregor spares no words for his opponents and has often nearly come to physical blows during staredowns and weigh-ins. Against Nate Diaz, who is also not one to mince words, it appears that the vitriol between the two is extraordinarily high. But for McGregor, nothing is ever truly personal.

"I don't really hate Nate," McGregor said. "I have no hate for any man that is on the same journey as me. We're all chasing the same dream here so I can't hate the man with the same dream as me. For me, it's business. There is no emotion there. I go in and I decipher his movements, I decipher his reactions and I make a trap for him and I walk him into the trap.”