Conor McGregor Criticizes John Cena, WWE

UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor continued to rail against the WWE on Friday during a media session ahead of his UFC 202 rematch with Nate Diaz.

The always outspoken Irishman took aim at John Cena, the longtime face of WWE, whose character is geared toward a younger audience.

"What's the main guy? John Cena," he said, per Marc Raimondi of MMA Fighting. "He's 40. He's 40 years of age. He's walking around in a luminous orange T-shirt and a headband talking about nobody can see him. We can see him right there. He's a big, fat, 40-year-old failed Mr. Olympia motherf--ker."

McGregor expanded on his comments to note his disdain for the current group of WWE stars doesn't extend throughout the entire company. He expressed respect for the McMahon family and also gave a shoutout to some of the former top draws, per MMA Fighting:

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Like I said, no disrespect to the dons of the game, the McMahons. [WWE CEO Vince McMahon] is a f--ing legend. They wrote Vinny off a few years ago when he dropped from the billions, and then he rose back up and now he's back in the billionaire club. What he's been able to do with that bunch of dweebs he has over there at the moment has been phenomenal, and I respect him for that. And then, of course, the OGs of the game: The Rock, Stone Cold—they're cool motherf--kers. Even Ric Flair is a cool motherf--ker.

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It's the second time in a week the 28-year-old UFC fighter has gone after the wrestling organization. Mike Bohn of Rolling Stone noted McGregor was asked about shifting to WWE in the future, like Brock Lesnar did:

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I have thought about [WWE]. For the most part, I think these guys are p--sies, to be honest. They're messed up p--sies if you ask me. Fair play to Brock; he got in and fought, but at the end of the day, he was juiced up to the fucking eyeballs. How can I respect that? The other guy [CM Punk] hasn't fought yet, so I don't know about him yet.

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Those comments generated reaction from around the WWE Universe. Chris Jericho was one of the notable wrestlers to respond on social media:

Of course, the biggest question is whether the recent rants are a work or a shoot. McGregor is one of the best self-promoters in the world and, while his exact intentions were unclear, you could view the comments as his way of creating some heat should he make the jump to WWE.

That's a conversation for the future, though. His main focus now is getting ready for that rematch with Diaz on Aug. 20. A second consecutive loss would be a major blow to the persona he's built over the last couple of years.