Conor McGregor and UFC Lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov came face-to-face for the first time yesterday at Radio City Music Hall in New York City ahead of their UFC 229 showdown- and the press conference was as entertaining as expected.
Despite McGregor's efforts, the presser was closed to the public which definitely took away some of the electricity of event, though it was still worth the watch. As UFC President Dana White noted, "We have had problems in New York and I didn't want anymore problems today."
"If i was an owner and part of the promotion, I would have the fucking fans in the arena," McGregor said about Thursday's event being closed off to the public. "Where the fuck are the fans at? I'm in probation up to me eyeballs and coming in for civil cases. At least bring the fans in. Here we are, let's get a war going!"
In a surprise to no one, McGregor was the aggressor on the mic throughout the event, plugging his recently released "Proper No. Twelve" Irish whiskey all the while. The 29-year old Irish superstar even offered Khabib a shot of whiskey, but the undefeated Russian champ declined.
“You are a little weasel,” McGregor riffed during the presser (H/T USA Today). “A hard man in groups but on his own, when confronted, he cowers away. That what you saw with that little (expletive) on the bus, he (expletive) his jocks. I came for the love of fighting and the love of war and I will love to put a beating on this little glass jaw."
“I will stomp on his head as he is unconscious. It has been a war zone in my camp. I am preparing for war. Broken orbital bones, broken feet, broken fingers. You hold onto legs for dear life. You fight like a rat. What kind of way of fighting is that?”
To his credit, Khabib didn't take any of McGregor's bait and only issued a few verbal jabs through Conor's constant trash talk.
"You look like a clown. Stop pedaling your whiskey bullshit."
"Most important is sixth of October," Nurmagomedov said (H/T CBS). "He can talk whatever he want and I know he will talk. But the sixth of October is what matters when they close the cage.
"Your grappling is zero, I'm going to dominate you. It's going to be a long night for you. You fight for money and I fight for legacy."
Take a look at some of the highlights from the UFC 229 press conference in the tweet embedded below.
https://twitter.com/_/status/1043042142900219905
