Conor McGregor continues oral assault on Nate Diaz — VIDEO
When noted striker Conor McGregor spent the majority of his brief open workout for fans and media Thursday at Red Rock Resort working on takedowns and submission attempts, eyebrows were raised, and the attention on his rematch with Nate Diaz turned to actual fight analysis.
That didn’t last long.
McGregor, who will fight Diaz in the main event of UFC 202 on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena, cut off the first question from interviewer Megan Olivi and took control of the microphone in a performance that served as a reminder of how McGregor became mixed martial arts’ biggest star.
“(Expletive) the Diaz brothers,” McGregor, channeling a scene from “Scarface,” screamed to uproarious applause inside the Rocks Lounge. “(Expletive) those cockroaches.”
The animus toward Nate Diaz and his older brother Nick, also a UFC star, dates to before the first meeting in March, when Nate Diaz handed McGregor the first loss of his UFC career with a second-round submission.
Thursday’s vitriol was more likely the result of leftover adrenaline from Wednesday’s news conference, which was cut short when Diaz walked out before the two camps exchanged a barrage of hurled expletives, obscene gestures, water bottles, energy drink cans and even athletic tape.
McGregor was not amused.
“It’s a big fight,” he said. “We came here ready for war, not to throw (expletive) bottles and go running.”
The incident has already had repercussions. While both fighters had massive entourages at Wednesday’s news conference, the traveling parties were much smaller Thursday, with the organization limiting their access to the remainder of fight-week activities.
A UFC official declined comment on further potential discipline for Wednesday’s melee, stating the organization would defer to the Nevada Athletic Commission to sanction the fighters.
UFC president Dana White said he has no doubt that will happen.
“They’re both getting punished,” White told TMZ. “I mean, what everybody has gotta understand is we’re overseen by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. I guarantee you both of these guys are gonna get massive fines, and there’s probably going to be a hearing, too, after the fight. There could be suspensions, community service. It’s gonna be ugly.”
NAC executive director Bob Bennett said the situation was already on the commission’s radar and could be placed on the agenda as soon as September’s meeting.
“We reviewed the incident several times as well as Nevada Administrative Code 467,” Bennett said. “That type of inappropriate behavior will not be tolerated by the NAC. Our chief deputy attorney general will decide what, if any, codes were violated and take appropriate action.”
There is certainly precedent for penalties to be doled out.
Several boxers have faced discipline for similar infractions, and UFC stars Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier were fined and ordered to do community service after a brawl broke out between them during a news conference in the lobby of the MGM Grand in 2014.
McGregor is already lining up his defense.
“I was in fear for my life,” McGregor deadpanned. “Bottles were flying everywhere, I was up there ducking. It was just self-defense.”
While the fighters are likely facing discipline regardless of the self-defense claim, they are just as likely to make extra money off the incident.
Top light heavyweight contender Anthony Johnson, who will fight Glover Teixeira on the card and was onstage as the projectiles flew Wednesday, said he thinks Diaz and McGregor might have sold a few pay per views with their performance.
“I was just sitting there chilling, watching everything go by me,” he said. “It was entertaining, but, honestly, it was unprofessional. It was stupid. It didn’t have to happen. But then again, it got the fans into it more, and it just makes for that much more of an entertaining show.”
Diaz was unapologetic about his actions. He said the decision to walk out was triggered by McGregor’s entrance midway through the news conference in what he said was an attempt to upstage him.
“I’m here as a businessman, doing what I’ve got to do,” Diaz said Thursday. “I want to behave myself and act right, but I’ve got to stay true to myself, too. I believe that if an (expletive) comes in with his team like he’s the head-honcho (expletive), I’m going to let you know we’ve got a whole gang ready to ride.
“They came in like they were hot (expletive), but we’ve got a whole army here. It ain’t nothing I’ve never seen before. It’s all good.”
Diaz’s workout consisted of a few minutes of shadowboxing and noncontact sparring with a training partner. McGregor’s grappling-oriented session was more noteworthy.
The consensus on the matchup is that Diaz has a massive advantage on the ground and McGregor needs to keep the fight standing to avenge his loss. He might have spent his camp trying to narrow that gap. More likely, he just wanted to plant a seed in Diaz’s head.
His final message before tossing the microphone in the air and walking off stage was much more clear.
“(Expletive) Team Diaz,” McGregor shouted. “And if you’re down with Team Diaz, then (expletive) you, too.”
Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow @adamhilllvrj on Twitter.
