Gavan Casey reports from Las Vegas
UFC LIGHTWEIGHT CHAMPION Khabib Nurmagomedov wasn’t hanging around at the final press conference for UFC 229, answering a few questions before exiting the stage to make final preparations for tomorrow morning’s weigh-in.
All of this took place before Conor McGregor’s arrival, meaning there was no face-off nor words exchanged at the Park MGM hotel, but it’s unlikely that the Russian could have made it too far within the resort without hearing the reception which greeted his challenger’s one-man show.
"I don't need [to] wait for nobody."
— ESPN (@espn) October 4, 2018
—Khabib Nurmagomedov opens the UFC 229 press conference without Conor McGregor there. pic.twitter.com/SU3FOFgb3T
Quickly, reporters’ questions for Khabib began to be drowned out by choruses of ‘Olé Olé’, but ‘The Eagle’ rose above jibes from the maniacal, Irish-heavy crowd, even thanking them for turning out and allowing him to make a small fortune.
Upon his arrival to wild boos, Nurmagomedov explained that he waits for no one; he has a schedule, and his only responsibility is to look after himself in advance of the biggest fight of his life.
Asked if he intends to shake McGregor’s hand — win or lose — after Saturday’s fight, he replied: “No. No way. No way.”
He went on to claim that McGregor was going to have to kill him in order to stop him before adding:
For me, this is more than defend my title. For me, it’s personal. Of course, this is biggest fight in UFC history. [But] you know, for me, it’s personal.
“Maybe it’ll be a decision,” the Dagestan native added stoically.
Maybe I’ll stop him. He talks about being ready all the time — against Diaz, against Mayweather. When he tired he give up all the time.
“All questions going to be answered Saturday night,” he replied politely, with a hint of a smile, to one American reporter. “Please wait two more days.”
Shortly afterwards, the champion hit the road, pausing briefly to pose with his belt before disappearing through the curtains stage-left.
“Well, this is awkward,” mused UFC president Dana White, who then fielded questions until McGregor’s arrival some 15 to 20 minutes later.
The most noteworthy nugget to arise from White’s stalling was his adamance that there is no truth to the rumours that the UFC is considering adding a 165-pound division — a rumour which he described as “fake news” before warning that the prospective weight class would be populated solely by fighters who couldn’t quite achieve world champion status at lightweight or welterweight.
Enter McGregor, sporting a sleeveless vest and Paddy hat, and of course clasping a bottle of his personal whiskey brand which he handed to White with a grin.
“The traffic is heavy out there — you know yourself,” he said, sending his audience into convulsions. “There must be a McGregor fight on or something!”
“I did not plan this,” McGregor admitted, addressing his tardiness with a hint of probity which wasn’t long evaporating. He had been asked if he had missed an opportunity to get in his foe’s head, and seemed briefly to give it some consideration, before adding: “I tried to get here — I’m only a couple of minutes late for fuck’s sake. The mad backwards cunt — he doesn’t want to be around me, he doesn’t want to be around the people [the Irish fans].
He has to make weight, I want him to show up on Saturday night. Get him into the sauna and cook him like a little chicken-jaw rat that he is!
“I plan on knocking that man’s nose straight into the nosebleeds. That’s what’s happening on Saturday night.”
The former champion did confirm, with a hearty laugh, that he’d consider fighting Nurmagomedov even if he were to miss weight on Friday morning Vegas time, concluding that he’d cross that bridge if or when he came to it.
He also confirmed that he has been “grappling and wrestling much more in this camp,” and doing so even with a couple of 200-pounders.
We’re prepared for every outcome… I also don’t give a bollocks! I’ve been in every scenario you can possibly be in, under the brightest lights in the world. I’m a veteran.
Hardly prompted, he upped the ante in his recent verbal onslaught against Nurmagomedov’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz, alleging all sorts which, cards on the table, can’t be printed for legal reasons.
He added, though, that he didn’t give a you-know-what about Khabib, “or his people.” Saturday night, he said, “is way deeper than a fight.
“I am ruthless, here. I’m coming to put a hole in this man’s skull.
Fuck peace. There will be no peace. I always say you should aim for peace, but if you can’t get peace, you should aim between the eyes. This will never be over.
The challenger later channelled some of last year’s circus act, prompting the crowd to shout, ‘Fuck the Jameson brothers’ on the count of three. They could scarcely wait that long to oblige.
It’s something he hasn’t invoked regularly of late, but McGregor seemed hellbent on stimulating his Irish fans especially on Thursday evening, serenading them at every opportunity, pulling out some of his antique lines about Irishness and how, essentially, you can’t beat it.
Strikingly, he grew tired of roaring about people who weren’t even in the building, instead switching on a charm offensive which we frankly hadn’t seen since his defeat to Nate Diaz in March of 2016.
Bereft of an adversary to abuse, and confronted only by a sea of ‘his’ people, McGregor sat back and took stock.
Asked by an Irish reporter if he’ll ever fight in Ireland again, he was quick to pay homage to his boxing roots.
“I’ll fight in the Ringside [Club] on South Circular Road where I made my boxing debut”, he said, “next to the National Stadium.
It’s…a pub, and it fits about 50 people, but I’d fight there. You’ll have to ask these guys [White and co.]. I certainly must — must, must, must — fight in Ireland again before I call it a day.
When it was put to him that Dana White had claimed he had perhaps even surpassed Muhammad Ali with his fluency in what is now known as psychological warfare, he thanked White profusely, sincerely, citing their differences but describing his employer as “an O.G. of the fight game.” Indeed, he thanked everyone who had helped him to reach this apex in his field, before all but dismissing the Ali comparison, almost as though embarrassed.
“Muhammad Ali is a special, special individual,” he said, before thanking White for his remarks — however wild they might have been. “I cannot compare myself to that great man.”
A colleague, Joe Callaghan of the Toronto Star, remarked that McGregor was speaking pre-fight as he tends to post-fight.
Perhaps this was a McGregor who has truly rediscovered his appetite for the game, or perhaps it was a fighter cognisant that Saturday night could — by hook or by crook — transpire to be his swan song in the octagon.
Perhaps both lines of thought intersect somewhere.
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