WWE superstar Becky Lynch has made quite an impact since her main roster debut in July, all the way through her winning the promotion's inaugural SmackDown women's championship on Sept. 11 at WWE Backlash.
Lynch, 29, whose real name is Rebecca Quin, was a guest of ESPN's pro wrestling podcast Cheap Heat on Thursday to talk about her life and career in sports entertainment. What she ultimately revealed was a love for the one sport she actively follows: mixed martial arts.
A native of Ireland, Lynch was asked about comments made in August by her countryman, UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor, who referred to WWE stars as "master p---ies" and that he would "slap the head off of" the entire roster.
Lynch said she was far from offended, acknowledging that McGregor was almost certainly working the whole time. She referenced his prior use of wrestling quotes during his trash-talking, including a line from "Stone Cold" Steve Austin.
"Look, McGregor is a businessman through and through," Lynch said. "He's obviously a wrestling fan.
"He used a wrestling line to offend wrestlers. He knows what he's doing, he's using wrestling-style promos. And it has gotten him to where he is today. He's just being a smart businessman and fair play to him for it."
Lynch, who mentioned on Twitter in August that her favorite UFC fighter was unbeaten bantamweight Luke Sanders (whom she has a close friendship with), also shared her take on McGregor's majority-decision win over Nate Diaz at UFC 202 in their rematch.
"It was good, [but] can I ask? I feel like Diaz held back," Lynch said. "Don't you? Do you know what I mean? I feel like he wasn't hitting him as hard as he could. I wonder if he just wanted to make it go to fight No. 3."
Lynch admitted she was also an interested spectator of former WWE champion CM Punk's MMA debut on Sept. 10, when he was submitted in just more than two minutes by Mickey Gall at UFC 203, but wasn't pleased by the outcome.
"It was so hard to watch," Lynch said. "I felt very uncomfortable, but man, fair play to him."
Despite her interest in MMA as a fan, Lynch was careful not to suggest you will be seeing her inside of a cage anytime soon.
"I remember I did a boxing class," Lynch said. "I remember sparring one time and the guy smacked me right in the nose and I was just like, 'What is this? No. No. None of that.'"