“Notorious” Conor McGregor, reigning featherweight champion in the UFC, has been allowed to move up to lightweight division and challenge champion Rafael dos Anjos; potentially becoming the first person in UFC history to hold two seperate division championships.
The first press confrence for UFC 197 took place on Wednesday in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand. The McGregor/dos Anjos bout is a dual headliner as Holly Holm, fresh off the monumental Ronda Rousey upset, defends her title against Miesha Tate.
All of the fighters were present alongside UFC owner Dana White, but all eyes and ears kept lighting up whenever Conor McGregor opened his mouth.
Check out these quotes from the event:
McGregor: “I swear to God, UFC [194], I fought Jose Aldo. I KO’d the country of Brazil’s true champion. Seeing how he handles himself, how his team handles themselves, they never learned the language of the oppressor. He never came to America. He trusted in his people, unlike this guy standing across from me.
“That’s why the people of Brazil love Jose Aldo. That’s why when Jose Aldo steps off a plane, the country of Brazil greets him, regardless of result. We’re sending Rafael on a four-day media run throughout Brazil, and we’ve got to book him a hotel. I’ve got to book him a hotel in his own home country. That should tell you all you need to know.”
“On March 5, I will behead Rafael dos Anjos… I will drag his head through the streets of Rio de Janeiro to a parade of people, I’d imagine. It will become a national holiday also, I would imagine.”
He continued, adding “I’m speaking Spanish, I’m dressed like ‘El Chapo’ in his prime, I’m running this company like half a wise guy and I’m up here verbally destroying this man, I am a multi-cultured individual. I really can do whatever I want.”
You can view excerpts from the press confrence courtrsey of Yahoo here:
The vicious comments have caused rumblings on social media regarding whether McGregor has crossed some boundaries with his verbal jabs. I would argue that you are missing the bigger picture, McGregor is playing out what would happen if Mickey the Irish Gypsy from Guy Ritchie’s film “Snatch” were a reality.
See for yourself:
Exhibit B:
Not to mention the fact that the fast talking Irishman Mickey has a knack for pissing people off, having epic schemes, and carrying them out with ruthless accuracy. The way McGregor handles himself in and out of the ring stirs the imagination of life imitating art. Conor McGregor is a very real, serious, trash talking, badass man from the Emerald Isle whom has crash landed in the middle of the Mixed Martial Arts universe by talking the talk and backing it up. Until someone beats him in the Octagon be prepared for more smack talk, outrageous claims, all in front of a camera, behind a microphone, in a thick Irish accent.
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