Conor McGregor Steals the Show at UFC 205 Press Conference
Conor McGregor Steals the Show at UFC 205 Press Conference
Conor McGregor is unequivocally the best thing to ever happen to MMA press conferences. This is not up for debate.While the Diaz brothers have spun gold of
Conor McGregor is unequivocally the best thing to ever happen to MMA press conferences. This is not up for debate.
While the Diaz brothers have spun gold of their own from time to time, and Chael Sonnen once ruled the microphone with an iron fist, there's no one close to bringing the flair McGregor does to what have been historically dull media obligations. On Tuesday afternoon in New York City, the Irish superstar once again proved why he is the pound-for-pound king of the promotional game.
With a packed house full of his ramped up countrymen in tow, here are some of the early McGregor highlights:
When asked what he felt he was worth to the UFC.
"4.2 billion dollars. That's what I'm worth to this company."
When asked how it felt to be coming down to 155 pounds after two fights at 170.
"I'm very happy to be at 155. I feel for all the divisions I've ran around and ran through I feel 155 is where I'm gonna take over."
[tweet url="https://twitter.com/MMA_Jim/status/780906366479327236" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]
Then when lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez chimed in with a comment, during a question asking if Mystic Mac and his predictions would return, McGregor ramped into epic mode and dropped a bit of history on the Philadelphia native.
"Shut your f*****n mouth. I run New York. I run this whole shit. Mystic Mac says he's gonna KO you inside of round one.
"The Irish, we built this damn town. We built this city. Now we are back. I'm taking over. I'm going to take out one of your own. I'm going to cash your money, but make no mistake about it the Irish love New York City."
When asked why the long rumored bout between Alvarez and McGregor seemed to stall last week, "Notorious" kept things rolling at Alvarez's expense.
"I just said it out straight that they beg me and they begged me."
Alvarez took exception to this and started to ramp up his own intensity, but when McGregor pointed out how the lightweight champion had signed on to fight at UFC 205 at the same base pay as his previous fight, another feather was notched in the cap of the 145-pound titleholder. This back-and-forth got the tension flowing strong, but little did we know it was all a lead in to what may stand as the best one-line response in MMA press conference history.
Shortly after a reporter asked McGregor who sitting with him up on the stage would be his toughest fight, a riled up Jeremy Stephens decided it was his time to steal the spotlight. The Iowa native has been on a strong run of late, but unbeknownst to him it was the wrong the moment to take a shot at the pound-for-pound king.
Stephens started rattling off his knockout prowess, and whether genuine or not, McGregor turned around surprised and said, "Who the f*** is that guy?"
[tweet url="https://twitter.com/MMA_Jim/status/780911018461528064" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]
The crowd broke into laughter and even non-McGregor enthusiast Donald Cerrone seemed to approve of the timing. There were a bunch of other things said and insults thrown back and forth, but things were capped off nicely by a guy in the crowd who looked close enough to be a reporter so someone handed him a microphone.
[tweet url="https://twitter.com/SandhuMMA/status/780916354639601664" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]
The UFC's long-awaited arrival to Madison Square Garden may still be 91 days away, but McGregor proved on Tuesday he's the added star power the card had been lacking. And condolences to Jeremy Stephens.
[tweet url="https://twitter.com/SandhuMMA/status/780918495441776645" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]
While the Diaz brothers have spun gold of their own from time to time, and Chael Sonnen once ruled the microphone with an iron fist, there's no one close to bringing the flair McGregor does to what have been historically dull media obligations. On Tuesday afternoon in New York City, the Irish superstar once again proved why he is the pound-for-pound king of the promotional game.
With a packed house full of his ramped up countrymen in tow, here are some of the early McGregor highlights:
When asked what he felt he was worth to the UFC.
"4.2 billion dollars. That's what I'm worth to this company."
When asked how it felt to be coming down to 155 pounds after two fights at 170.
"I'm very happy to be at 155. I feel for all the divisions I've ran around and ran through I feel 155 is where I'm gonna take over."
[tweet url="https://twitter.com/MMA_Jim/status/780906366479327236" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]
Then when lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez chimed in with a comment, during a question asking if Mystic Mac and his predictions would return, McGregor ramped into epic mode and dropped a bit of history on the Philadelphia native.
"Shut your f*****n mouth. I run New York. I run this whole shit. Mystic Mac says he's gonna KO you inside of round one.
"The Irish, we built this damn town. We built this city. Now we are back. I'm taking over. I'm going to take out one of your own. I'm going to cash your money, but make no mistake about it the Irish love New York City."
When asked why the long rumored bout between Alvarez and McGregor seemed to stall last week, "Notorious" kept things rolling at Alvarez's expense.
"I just said it out straight that they beg me and they begged me."
Alvarez took exception to this and started to ramp up his own intensity, but when McGregor pointed out how the lightweight champion had signed on to fight at UFC 205 at the same base pay as his previous fight, another feather was notched in the cap of the 145-pound titleholder. This back-and-forth got the tension flowing strong, but little did we know it was all a lead in to what may stand as the best one-line response in MMA press conference history.
Shortly after a reporter asked McGregor who sitting with him up on the stage would be his toughest fight, a riled up Jeremy Stephens decided it was his time to steal the spotlight. The Iowa native has been on a strong run of late, but unbeknownst to him it was the wrong the moment to take a shot at the pound-for-pound king.
Stephens started rattling off his knockout prowess, and whether genuine or not, McGregor turned around surprised and said, "Who the f*** is that guy?"
[tweet url="https://twitter.com/MMA_Jim/status/780911018461528064" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]
The crowd broke into laughter and even non-McGregor enthusiast Donald Cerrone seemed to approve of the timing. There were a bunch of other things said and insults thrown back and forth, but things were capped off nicely by a guy in the crowd who looked close enough to be a reporter so someone handed him a microphone.
[tweet url="https://twitter.com/SandhuMMA/status/780916354639601664" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]
The UFC's long-awaited arrival to Madison Square Garden may still be 91 days away, but McGregor proved on Tuesday he's the added star power the card had been lacking. And condolences to Jeremy Stephens.
[tweet url="https://twitter.com/SandhuMMA/status/780918495441776645" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]