Gunnar Nelson on good friend Conor McGregor: 'He's not putting on an act'

Opposites attract, right?

Conor McGregor is one of the most brash and outspoken fighters in the UFC. He's loud, excitable and has a seemingly scripted set of histrionics during weigh-ins and before fights. Gunnar Nelson, meanwhile, comes into the Octagon looking like he just woke up from a nap. He doesn't like speaking to the media much and his idea of trash talk is saying he believes he's going to win his upcoming fight.

Yet, McGregor and Nelson are close friends. They aren't just regular training partners at Straight Blast Gym in Dublin. They also hang out together away from the mats.

"We get along really well," Nelson told FOX Sports. "We have a similar routine. We're into a lot of the same things."

Nelson probably won't be rocking a custom-made ivory suit like the one McGregor wore to the press conference after beating Dustin Poirier at UFC 178 last Saturday night. When Nelson says he and McGregor like a lot of the same things, he's mostly talking about training and talking about fights and fight preparation and sitting down for a good meal.

Nelson's father, Halli, once managed McGregor and he was the first person to contact UFC matchmakers Joe Silva and Sean Shelby about the Irish prospect. He joked that his son and McGregor are like "yin and yang," but the biggest thing they have in common is a near obsession with MMA. They think about it constantly and it is the typical center of their conversation.

"They definitely click in the gym," Halli said. "They're almost like 'The Matrix' when they're thinking about fighting. They get so much into it."

Both have the same goal and that's becoming UFC champion. Nelson is sure that he will be welterweight champ and McGregor will hold the featherweight title one day at the same time.

"It will be great," Nelson said. "I believe it will [happen] -- 100 percent."

As far as how the two are perceived publicly, Nelson said he and McGregor do the same things in interviews -- they act like themselves. The two just happen to have completely different personalities. But that cocky McGregor you see in the media? That's the real deal, Nelson said.

"He deserves the attention he's getting," Nelson said. "He's not putting on an act. It's the way he is and he's also a great fighter."

McGregor fulfilled his end of the title-journey bargain by knocking out Poirier in the first round last week. Now, it's Nelson's turn. The Iceland native meets gritty veteran Rick Story in the main event of UFC Fight Night on Fight Pass in Stockholm on Saturday. It's his biggest name opponent yet, but Nelson is confident, nearly McGregoresque.

"I think it's going to be a quick fight," Nelson said.

That's about as braggadocious as Nelson is going to get. He's never going to even approach the outrageous McGregor. But the two will continue to get along great.

"He's quite normal -- well, he's not normal," Nelson said with a laugh. "It just is what it is."