The last time UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor held a UFC press conference he was “accidentally” an hour late, pissed off Dana White, and got in a ludicrous tussle with his UFC 202 opponent Nate Diaz that involved thrown cans and water bottles.
Suffice it to say, expectations were high among the 1,500-strong fans who showed up at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night for the official UFC 205 press conference.
Sitting on a dais with a who’s who of UFC champions, McGregor didn’t let his legion of fans down.
After being asked for a prediction from his alter ego, “Mystic Mac,” about his lightweight title fight against Eddie Alvarez, the pugnacious McGregor let his tongue run wild.
“I have nothing against Eddie,” McGregor started as Alvarez tried to interrupt with a few meek “carefuls.”
“What you going to do?” McGregor roared, taking the bait like the showman he is. “You going to do something over there? SHUT YOUR F—ING MOUTH! I run New York! I run this whole city! And Mystic Mac predicts I’m going to KO you inside one round!”
The crowd erupted in cheers of approval.
“Conor! Conor! Conor!” they chanted, waving Irish flags in the air.
There was nothing for UFC president Dana White to do other than giggle nervously. Eventually, White even removed the black and green Monster Energy drink cans sitting in front of his superstar, but the precautions were unnecessary because the conversation soon shifted to the Dubliner’s favorite subject: his own greatness.
“Listen, that fight [with Diaz] was five weeks ago. I came out of that fight fresher than I went in. Look at Nate’s face, Nate will never look the same. I came out brand-new but with a bruised foot,” McGregor said, dispelling any notion that he might have been injured in his five-round war back in August.
The fight was so vicious that some wondered if he’d be able to get himself ready for UFC 205 on Nov. 12. McGregor shot down that rumor, too.
“I just set it out straight, ‘Beg me [to fight at UFC 205],’ and they begged me,” McGregor explained as the crowd laughed. He then turned to another of his favorite pastimes, telling his opponent exactly how he was going to beat him.
“I’ve been whooping his style for a long, long time,” McGregor began, “[Alvarez] is a stocky, stuffed wrestler with an overhand. That’s it.
“He’s going to be shooting for his life, but it’s a long 25 minutes in there. I can hit you from anywhere and that’s what’s going to happen to him, he’s going to be shooting, panicking, and I’m going to be hitting him from everywhere.
“Sooner or later he’s going to fall. One of those elbows, one of those shots is going to dig into that soft sweet spot, into the temple, and that’s all she wrote. Two weight world champion. UFC history. New York, the Irish are back!” McGregor proclaimed before he literally dropped the mic.
It was a classic McGregor press conference, minus the projectiles.