Conor McGregor was humble in victory when he won the interim UFC featherweight title two weeks ago at UFC 189. In his first interview since that memorable night, however, McGregor reverted back to his brash and familiar self.

McGregor (18-2 MMA, 6-0 UFC) defeated Chad Mendes (17-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) by second-round TKO to win the interim 145-pound belt after champion Jose Aldo (25-1 MMA, 7-0 UFC) fell out of the bout on less than two weeks notice due to a rib injury.

“The Notorious” got the better of Mendes on the feet throughout the contest. He also gave up multiple takedowns and was controlled on the ground. He lost the first round on all three judges’ scorecards and many believe he would have lost the second if not for the knockout.

Prior to the matchup questions surrounded how McGregor would fare against an elite fighter with proven wrestling credentials. He got that in Mendes and emerged victorious. A post-fight narrative formed around how Mendes would have faired with a full training camp. McGregor acknowledged, and unsurprisingly shot down, those questions.

“To the naked eye it seemed like a tough contest, and I get a giggle out of supposed experts in the field of fighting when they speak of his two-week training camp or his lack of preparation,” McGregor said on ESPN’s “SportsCenter.” “To the trained eye, you understand what you are witnessing. You are witnessing ruthless bodywork – ruthless body shooting where I teeped him into his windpipe. I cracked him into his ribs, and every time those shots dug in deep, they take rounds of you. There is no coming back from clean bodywork. It can render you useless and that’s what happened.

“He came out, I butchered his body, I rearranged his intestines, I stayed safe on the bottom when we were in those positions, I elbowed the top of his crown, I done damage and remained efficient then I rose to my feet, went back to the work on the body then his body gave up at that time. Then I punched his jaw across his face. To the trained eye, it was a ruthless performance by me. It was clinical bodywork, which was the deciding factor in the fight. It does not matter if he had a 100-week camp. It would not have made any difference. Me and him know the shape his body was in during those exchanges.”

According to FightMetric, McGregor landed 15 of 30 strikes thrown to Mendes’ body. He credited that work as a major attribute to his success, but also said the body strikes weren’t entirely thrown as a result of in-fight strategy. He said it was partially done as a message to Aldo, who was at home in Brazil recovering from the injured rib.

“Another reason I went to work on his body was because of Jose Aldo’s weak body,” McGregor said. “I knew his ribs were in pain, so I wanted to hit Chad’s body knowing that Jose was sitting under the duvet peaking above his duvet covers watching the fight, trembling as every shot to the body landed. It was another reason why I lit up his body.”

McGregor said his mental approach to the fight also impacted the outcome. He believes Mendes fought for points rather than the finish, whereas he hunted for the stoppage from beginning to end.

“It just reiterates what I know, that there is many, many bums in this business that do not understand the true meaning of fighting,” McGregor said. “I feel a lot of these people are brought up on sport; sport fighting where to score a point or gain an advantage is a victory. I was brought up where if I do not defend these strikes from these six individuals that are attacking me in this situation, I will not live to see another day. That is my upbringing to their upbringing where they score a takedown and it’s a success.

“I felt he entered the contest and all he wanted was to get takedown. For him and for the American fans and his team, they just wanted to see that takedown. That was victory for them. But it is not victory. In a fight to death, a takedown means absolutely nothing. So that is how I approach the game.”

McGregor was asked in the interview how he felt about UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta making a comment that his in-fight trash talk to Mendes may have been too much. He showed little regard to the criticism and explained why he approached the fight as he did.

“I will handle my business as I feel fit,” McGregor said. “Lorenzo’s my business partner and we have a phenomenal relationship, but I do not tell him how to run the UFC, so he should not tell me how to run the fight game. Not yet I don’t tell him how to run the UFC, mind you. The reason I went in and spoke to Chad a lot was because I felt during the weigh in for instance, when we came out and were supposed to look at each other eye-to-eye, face-to-face and he was bouncing around clapping to the fans and screaming. I could sense that he was playing a game. I said to Dana when we were up on that stage at the weigh-in, ‘Let’s just go face-to-face so I can look him in the eye.’ He was not prepared to do that so I just knew when the fight came around and there was no one where to run and we would have to go face-to-face and man-to-man that I would speak to him.

“I spoke to him and I said, ‘Let’s see who takes a back step now. Let’s see who takes the first back step now when this bell rings.’ Then the bell rings and he didn’t come out of his corner. I marched across, I cracked him with a spinning back kick then I lit him up on the feet and I spoke to him. That’s when I begin my ruthless bodywork and I could sense after the first teep to the gut that it was done. It took the wind out of his sails and I spoke to him. I said, ‘ Are you done already?’ Then the fight progressed and he panicked into a takedown. He scored a takedown and in his mind that’s all he needed. Then he was throwing his shots and I would speak to him and say, ‘You hit like a girl. You hit like a little girl.’ Then every time he threw a shot and it glanced, I would say, ‘Nope.’ Then that was it.

“I was having fun in there and I have fun in there. I like to speak as I go about my business. I predicted I would knock him out inside two rounds. I placed a bet with my business partners; a multi-seven-figure bet that Chad would not escape the second round. Low and behold, when McGregor predicts something, the prediction comes true. That’s what happens.”

The McGregor-headlined UFC 189 event on July 11 was the organization’s most successful this year. The $7.2 million gate was the second highest in UFC history and the company claims pay-per-view sales reached the 1 million mark for what would be just the ninth time in reported history.

Although much of the anticipation for UFC 189 was built for the original Aldo vs. McGregor grudge match, it was still massively successful with the Mendes substitution.

McGregor’s victory set up what will be an even bigger fight with Aldo down the line. UFC President Dana White said there are currently discussions to bring the matchup to AT&T Stadium in Dallas, a venue that could be configured to hold approximately 100,000 attendees.

There have long been rumors about the UFC hosting an event at one of North America’s largest venues. However, the organization has publicly stated the right fight must be in place. McGregor said he’s the one to make it happen – he just hopes Aldo shows up.

“The previous fight was the biggest event in UFC history,” McGregor said. “(It was a) $7.2 million gate, cleared 1 million pay-per-view buys, it slots very high on the list of highest MGM (Grand Garden Arena) gates just below Mike Tyson and Juan Manuel Marquez. It also beat that pay-per-view number. So that was a tremendous event and one of the biggest, if not the biggest in history. So it’s only right. We don’t stay the same. We don’t go backwards, we always go forwards. That’s what my business partner Mr. Lorenzo Fertitta always says. We don’t stay in the same spot. You move up levels. So the next level would be a big football stadium, which is in discussions. Dallas Stadium there has been rumors there over the years that the UFC will hold and event there if they can get a fighter of my magnitude, or a fighter of that magnitude that can generate them numbers. It has always been rumors, but now they have me. Now we have the numbers and now is the time to strike on this if they are gonna do it, but if it is there it is there, if it’s in Vegas it’s in Vegas. Make no mistake about it, it will the biggest event in UFC history. As will every single fight that I am involved in from hereon in.

“I am now the world champion. You claim it’s the interim champion, but Jose went running. Jose’s a scared little man who did not show up to fight and sat under his covers praying for Chad Mendes to win. His whole team were praying for Chad Mendes to win so he would not face me. But his prayers went unanswered and I dominated and won. Now I am the featherweight world champion of the UFC. We will schedule a fight against Jose in the future and see how it plays out. Hopefully he stops running and man’s up and let’s do this damn fight.”

For complete coverage of UFC 189, check out the UFC Events section of the site.