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Conor McGregor Media Conference Call Transcript & MP3
Click Matt Radmanovich
Thank you everyone for joining. Today we’ll actually be breaking this conference call in two, with UFC President Dana White joining us in the second half of the call. But first, we have joining us a fighter many people call the greatest mixed martial artist
Can Conor shock the world? We’ll all find out August 26th live from the T-Mobile Arena in the fight capital of the world, Las Vegas, Nevada. Without further ado, I turn the call over to your questions for the notorious Conor McGregor.
Q I wanted to get your reaction today to the ruling that the Nevada State Athletic Commission made that will allow the request that you and Floyd made, to reduce the size of gloves from 10 ounces to 8 ounces. Can you give me your thoughts about that ruling?
Conor McGregor
I’m very happy with how the Nevada State Athletic Commission handled it. I think they handled it fairly – they listened to both requests and just the overall approach to the decision and the referees, the judges, I think they were very fair throughout. So
Q What was your specific reason for wanting the smaller gloves?
C. McGregor
You’ve got pros and cons on both sides. You’ve got both athletes asking for the request. And then you’ve got me also coming up in ounces from what I’m used to. I know some in the media are like oh no, it’s 10, it’s 8, but hey, look what I fight with. I
Q What kind of gloves will you wear in the fight; what brand?
C. McGregor You know, we’re still in discussion with that, so we’ll see in a little bit.
Q I wanted to know might there be two or three things that people don’t know about you that hasn’t been written before?
C. McGregor
Oh wow. I don’t know. What you see with me is what you get. I am the same person on and off the camera. A lot of people like to say I’m not. Obviously there are different moments. You’ll catch me against an opponent, I’m a little different but I portray
Q Is there anything like you like to cook, maybe any other hobbies – changing diapers now lately?
C. McGregor
Yes. I’m razor quick with the diaper changes. Right now I have a nutritionist who’s been with me for this time, bringing in the weight. So the cooking is out the window, my son has been living with me since, it must be three months now. We’ve had one hell
Q How have you approached the challenge of possibly going 12 rounds in this fight?
C. McGregor
We’ve adjusted to the timing in my cardiovascular preparation. On the endurance phases we’ve stretched it out to accommodate the 12 three minute rounds. It’s actually been very enjoyable to go from five, five minute rounds which is what I’m used to, which
But it’s a different kind of cardiovascular training. So we have adjusted some things and I feel absolutely amazing. I’ve done multiple 12 round fights in the buildup for this. I’ve done 12 rounds just last night. We are more than prepared. Myself and
He has an unrivaled gas tank. So we had to come up with a special formula and a special method to train. And that’s what we’ve done. We created the McGregor fast program and I’ve been on that since about a week after that first loss. And since then I’ve
Q I’m wondering if you see a difference between how fans treat you and Floyd and whether you think race plays any role in that.
C. McGregor
How many times have I been slayed by people? It’s give and take here. I get my fair share of hate and my fair share of love also. I believe it’s 50/50. I mean look at every boxing analyst. It’s like I’ve been discarded and it’s like I’m not welcome. I’ve
But it’s certainly something I do not condone. This is athlete versus athlete and two prime physical condition athletes about to take part in an amazing event and that’s it on my end. So I’m disappointed to hear the way sometimes it’s been portrayed, but
Q What do you make of some of boxing circles being so dismissive of this fight? Is that something that motivates you?
C. McGregor
It’s certainly motivating. The disrespect and the disregard to my skill set is disappointing. I look at people so many times and their mind is closed. They’ve got a closed mind to how things can be done. It’s a set way and there’s no other way. Where if
You’ve got to give respect for other disciplines and other styles. Like for instance, fighting is a complex game. There is a time and a place for every single attack and every single move. It’s about finding the correct timing for it. So when I hear the
Q In UFC you can’t always wear personal sponsors, logos and endorsements like that. Are you looking forward to that? What do you have planned endorsement wise for August 26th?
C. McGregor
Yes. I’ve got a couple of endorsements coming up. And then as far as an apparel deal, we’re close on an apparel deal. But at the same time, I’m in no rush. I’ve got good endorsement deals. As far as in ring endorsements, there are two that will be on the
Q I just wondered how your preparation and also the buildup kind of outside around you, has differed from your big UFC fights and whether that’s affected your preparations at all.
C. McGregor
Oh, look it’s another day for me. It’s another day of making history. It’s another day of doing what I’ve been told I shouldn’t be doing or I can’t do. It’s another mega blockbuster event. It’s nothing new to me here. So the only difference in this buildup
And then the media and the circus around it, it’s business as usual. It’s the exact same.
Q Do you believe Floyd and what he has said about a rematch? Specifically on Jimmy Kimmel
C. McGregor
Yes. I didn’t watch – I didn’t hear the Jimmy Kimmel bit – but I got some snippets of it that someone sent – I got tagged in some stuff, but I didn’t really hear much of what he said. As far as what he said on the world tour, he said he would step into the
But right now we’re focused on putting him away August 26th and then we’ll see what happens after that. I also have multiple world titles to defend inside the Ultimate Fighting Championship. And we’ll see. Maybe he can come over and after he gets his ass
Q I wondered whether your mindset has changed toward anything he’s done or anything that’s happened in the buildup has made you more confident?
C. McGregor
I think the team I have around me has instilled confidence in me. And we have a solid team. It’s been a growing team and an adjusting team throughout my career. And I think we just understand how it’s done and how it’s done correctly. And training has gone
The other night we were in the altitude chamber at like 13,000 feet at the Ultimate Fighting Championship Performance Institute and it was a scary training session. There’s no way in hell that I am not ready to fight in the deepest of trenches in this contest.
So part of me kind of wants to show some skill and to dismantle him that way. But I do not see it – I do not see him absorbing the blows in the first two rounds. But we are ready for absolutely every scenario. I’m ready to go to war for the full 12 rounds
Q Floyd has worn eight ounce gloves in 46 out of his 49 fights. So for that reason, was there any consideration on your part, to wear 10 ounce gloves, just to inconvenience his side?
C. McGregor:
No. Not at all. I mean I said that doesn’t bother me. Again, I’m – I was already up six ounces from four to ten, so it’s down a little bit from ten to eight, so how often he’s worn the gloves never factored into it. I didn’t even know that for instance,
Q Was Robert Byrd the referee that you asked for? And what do you think that he will bring to this fight? Are you happy with it?
C. McGregor
They gave us options. We didn’t necessarily ask for any referee in particular. There was a referee or two that gave an opinion on the fight and it was like a little bit, if that’s the case then it’s very hard for them to be considered. So that was where
His also has some links to mixed martial arts also. His wife was involved in the mixed martial arts game. So I think again, I’m very pleased and I think it credits the Nevada State Athletic Commission on their choosing. It was done very, very fairly. So
Q You weren’t hoping for Tony Weeks then by any chance?
C. McGregor Tony Weeks was also a consideration. He was also selected – he has had – he has ref’d both MMA bouts and boxing bouts, so yes, he was definitely one on our list also. But we are happy. We are happy with the selection.
Q Did you have any issue with the three judges selected by the Commission?
C. McGregor
I haven’t really studied on the judging so it’s very hard to find out like a history of the judges just yet. I believe my coach. I’m sure that coach has been already on that case. But I believe it’s a fair mix across the board. I believe there’s US, there’s
Q On Monday your former sparring partner, Paulie Malignaggi, said that he is trying to fight you. That’s his intention. He would like to fight you. I’m wondering if this is something that you’re interested in?
C. McGregor
Look, tell the kid to join the queue. Tell him to shut his mouth and join the queue, will you fast? Lord save me. He got his ass whooped and he went sprinting and I don’t know what you want me to say about the guy, but hey, there’s a big list of people that
Have you watched All Access at all? What do you make of the way that they are portraying you and the way they’re portraying him on that show?
C. McGregor
Thank god I’m in the game. Thank god it’s me on the other side, otherwise it’d be one hell of a boring buildup to the contest I suppose. But I don’t really care. I mean I know he has control of these and he’s an executive producer on the project. I watched
He’s doing one thing, I’m doing another. So that’s the way they’re playing it, that’s the way it is. I think the buildup is the buildup. Everyone is excited here. We could go radio silent. We could go radio silent and this thing is still going to blow everything
Q Some fighters like Terrence Crawford and David Haye have put out videos mocking your training. Have you seen these videos and if so, what do you make of the response to your training on Friday?
C. McGregor:
I’ve seen some videos. It is what it is. It’s lighthearted. I don’t take it personally. If anything, I see stiffness in every single one of them. You must have the limbs free. Your shoulders must be disconnected. You must have the ability to disconnect
These are just training methods – age old training methods. That shoulder training method you saw was made very popular by the great Rickson Gracie, one of the pioneers of mixed martial arts. It’s the shoulder loosening exercises. It gets the shoulders warmed
But it is what it is. We will educate as we go forward. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.
Q You said that you want to defend your multiple world titles in MMA. Do you still consider yourself the featherweight champion?
C. McGregor
Oh, 100%. I mean how can I not consider myself the UFC featherweight world champion and the UFC lightweight world champion? The current UFC featherweight world champion is Max Holloway, a man who I dismantled. And then the former was Jose Aldo. I still reign
But you know it is what it is. Everyone knows I am the multiple weight world champion of the UFC’s featherweight division and lightweight division. And I look forward to going back in continuing where I left off.
Q Conor what have you heard as far as the metrics from the fight?
C. McGregor I saw it pointing to record breaking numbers. All across the board. From the gate to the sponsorships to the Pay-Per-Views. Absolutely every angle.
So I am very, very happy with how it has gone. I am very happy with how the promotion has gone. I believe I have handled it carefully and best of all involved I believe.
I have been more active than all involved by a mile. So I am very happy I look forward to when the contest is all said and done and wrapped up.
My friend is getting married in Ibiza. We are going to go to Ibiza and then I will relax on my yacht in Ibiza and I will begin the counting game. Because that is counting sponsorships, our count of the date revenue, the merchandise sales and the multiple
M. Radmanovich Thank you everyone. Thank you Conor for joining us and at this point we are going to patch in UFC President, Dana White to join us for the next half an hour to take your questions. So we will reprompt you. We will get the queue going again.
Q With Conor going into the boxing world as opposed to James Toney coming into the MMA world, why do you think there isn’t that inevitability that there was when Tony came into MMA?
Dana White Well I think a lot of people believe there is. But the difference is obviously, he came into a sport where there were so many different weapons and so many different ways to beat him.
Whereas, Conor can punch. Conor hits hard. Conor knocks people out. Completely different, completely different. Listen people think that Conor is going to be completely outclassed. Some people are saying that he will never hit Floyd once.
I will tell you this. I just watched him work out last night. He looks phenomenal. He is in great shape. He hits hard and now we are fighting in eight ounce gloves and this is going to be a fight.
Anything can happen in a fight. Even I can’t remember who the boxer was that fought in MMA. He hit Tim Silva, former Heavyweight Champion ,and knocked him out. So anything is possible in a fight.
Q Is there a fight that you tend to remember under the UFC banner that is comparable in anyway in terms of the buildup, the hype and just everything that is going into this?
D. White There are tons of big fights that I have been involved with but obviously nothing as big as this. This is the biggest event ever in combat sports history. It is the most distributed event in Pay-Per-View history.
You can get this fight anywhere. This thing is on in like over 200 countries on Pay-Per-View. Boxing usually doesn’t do a lot of digital. You can buy this thing through UFC.TV and through the SHOWTIME app, Amazon, Sony, Apple, et cetera. You can buy this
If you are in Manhattan or you are on a desert island somewhere, if you have Wi-Fi you can buy this fight.
Q What do you classify as your biggest as far as the promotion and the buildup?
D. White Well it depends. It depends on what time you are talking about it. All of the Conor fights and the Ronda fights have always been big. Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz was big. Anderson Silva, Vitor Belfort. There are tons of big fights that had a big fight feeling.
But this is the biggest fight ever. It is tracking right now to be the largest commercial Pay-Per-View ever done in the history of Pay-Per-View. It is the most distributed Pay-Per-View event in history. You know the list goes on and on of records that this
Q What is it like dealing with a personality like Conor where the guy is not satisfied ever and is always pushing for more and things that seem either impossible or not allowable to you?
D. White I love it. That is why I call the kid the Unicorn. To accomplish great things in life you have to take huge risks. Who takes more risks than Conor McGregor?
The guy is a huge star. A fight falls out a week before. He will fight anybody. He doesn’t care. He believes in himself so much that he will literally fight anybody.
Most of the guys on a roster are like, I haven’t trained for him. I didn’t prepare for this guy and they won’t take the risk. They will cancel the fight and, you know that is the way most normal people are. Not this guy.
You know Floyd Mayweather and the talk started about these guys fighting. Never once did he say I absolutely demand that he fights me in MMA. He said no I want to go and fight Floyd in his own world. I want to beat him in what he does the best.
We actually have this thing that we are coming out with next week that we are going to put out on social media and other places. Where Conor starts off, you know, five, six years ago saying, “Dana you will sign me into the UFC. I will be your biggest star.
And all this stuff that he is laying out that is going to happen before I had even heard of Conor McGregor.
Q Do you recall the first conversation or the first time he broached the Floyd Mayweather question? Can you take us to that conversation when it came up and you discussed it? And what were your thoughts at that time?
D. White Well I think the first time I remember the Mayweather thing was those guys were going back and forth. I thought it was crazy that Conor and Mayweather are talking smack to each other right now.
Then Conor told me he wanted to fight him and I was like, what? What is the point in even talking about this? That guy is never going to fight in MMA. He said no I want to box him.
And I was just like, all right. That’s crazy. And again it is one of those things I thought would never happen. Ehat would the rules be? I said we would never get a deal done with these guys. It would be impossible to get this deal done.
Then the first time this thing even started to get serious was I was on ESPN and I threw out, “Tell you what Floyd. I will give you $25 million.” And then TMZ got him somewhere and he hung his watch out the window and said, “You see this watch?”
And I don’t know what that meant. The watch was $25 million? I don’t know. But that is what started the negotiations when I put out the $25 million offer.
Q Are you now a believer in Mystic Mac?
D. White I am a believer in Mystic Mac for sure. This kid he has done everything he said he would do. And he is claiming that he will knock out Floyd Mayweather within four rounds and I think he broke it down to two now.
But yes listen I am with Conor. I am in. I am on the ride with him man so I am excited.
Q I am wondering if you think this fight has the potential to impact the popularity of either sport? And related to that, does your research so much crossover between the MMA fan and the boxing fan?
D. White There are some. You know the boxing fan is older. Those demographics are older than ours. But I believe that this is good for combat sports. It is like when Mayweather Paacquiao did the numbers that they did I was like wow.
First I said good for them. And Number 2, I was like well that is the bar. That shows me that if you have the right fight at the right place at the right time, people are willing to watch.
I knew once this thing started to materialize that this fight was going to be so much bigger worldwide than any fight that had ever happened. Conor has a very big following in places like Brazil, in places like Australia. Obviously Europe.
So I knew that worldwide this would be the big and I was right. This thing is the biggest event that has ever happened to combat sports. This fight will reach over a billion homes worldwide.
Q It could help both sports. Can it hurt either sport? Depending on what the outcome is?
D. White I don’t think it hurts either sport. I think this is one of those cool situations where two guys are willing to take the risk to fight each other. And I think that this thing has captured the imagination of people.
That is how this fight was built. This fight was really built through the fans and the media.
Q Has your respect for Floyd Mayweather and his team grown through this process?
D. White Definitely. The worst deals to be involved with are people that aren’t very smart but they think they are. They are the most dangerous kind. And Mayweather’s team isn’t bad at all. These guys are actually very, very smart guys.
When I say that it’s because when problems pop up you know it is always hard to fix with people who aren’t too bright. Then it is always the small stuff and not the right things to be arguing about. These guys are really easy to deal with.
Q How do you see the eight ounce gloves affecting the contest?
D. White I think it affects the contest a lot. First of all, yes Floyd will be faster with eight ounce gloves. But Floyd is a defensive master and he has less glove for less defense.
Conor hits like a truck, smaller gloves favor him big time. So it affects the fight big time.
When we were in the original negotiations it wasn’t even something they were talking about eight ounce gloves.
So I don’t know what has changed in the last however long ago we did the deal but I am glad it did. I think it makes it so much more fun.
Q Do you subscribe or ascribe a lot of the credit to the family for the way Conor is as well?
D. White Definitely, you have to. But at the end of the day he is a special kid. I call him the Unicorn. He is different than anybody I have ever dealt with.
I like how he is willing to put everything on the line. I have never seen anybody who believes in himself more than this guy does. And believes in – when he makes up his mind and what he is going to do. He absolutely 100% believes it. Lives it. It is fascinating.
Q What noises were you making watching him spar last night? What were the noises coming out of Dana White?
D. White I was very quiet and sat there and just watched. He sparred with a really fast talented kid and it was a good session. And Conor worked like a dog last night.
He is in great shape. He is hitting really hard right now and he is in a very good place. I loved watching it last night and I feel good about this.
Q If he beats Floyd and he comes back for a couple of fights in the UFC would it not surprise you if he beats Floyd Mayweather if he starts calling out Canelo and Golovkin?
D. White God nothing with Conor would surprise me. It is not what I would want to have happen but it wouldn’t surprise me.
Q Has he come out and tried to bet you anything that he is going to fulfill this two to four round prediction?
D. White No he hasn’t tried. Listen I am on his side on this thing. I want him to win. I expect him to win. I expect him to knock Floyd Mayweather out. So no, not that I didn’t think that he could beat Chad Mendes.
It is not like I am going to bet against another one of my guys. Which by the way, we didn’t make that bet but we did pay him.
Q It was ruled today that you guys were going to be an official promoter for this event. So what additional leverage does that give you guys? How else are you able to now help push this as you said to a billion homes worldwide?
D. White Yes I think that we have done a good job with working with SHOWTIME and they do the things that they are good at. We do the things that we are good at. And it really helped.
There are a lot of things that boxing doesn’t do. For instance, most of the times you are dealing with the network. Networks aren’t too excited to go OTT. Now a big thing that they are into.
We have the capabilities. We do it all the time. And I believe we are one of the best to do it. And I mean the numbers are tracking huge. We are going to do the numbers that everybody has been talking we are going to do.
The over/under line in Vegas is is 4.9 million. Everything is tracking right now to say that we are going to kill this thing. So it is looking really good.
Q
It was announced yesterday that you are going to have Tony Ferguson and Kevin Lee fight for an interim belt. That would actually fall within a year since Conor won the belt. So is there a particularly reason why you guys are rushing into the interim business
D. White No because the thing is Conor has told me he is going to fight again this year. But I don’t know what is going to happen, you know. You can’t put these guys on the shelves all this time.
We will see what happens with this fight. That fight is going to move forward and we will see what is next for Conor.
Q How much money do you expect Conor McGregor make on August 26th?
D. White Well it depends on obviously what the fight does. But Conor is going to make a lot of life changing money. Money that will change his family’s life forever.
Q Just wanted you to talk about the impact of social media on this fight?
D. White Oh yes absolutely. When we did the world tour the numbers were off the charts. I can’t quote exactly, I don’t have them in front of me. But if you ask our PR team they can give you those numbers.
Great question it was incredible how many people. The first day, I can’t remember it was something crazy like the first day, the first stop in LA something like 12.5 million people watched it just on our Facebook alone.
Maybe it was between 12 and 20 million or something like that. I can’t remember. But that was just on Facebook the first day. So yes the numbers were massive.
Q Even something like the Paulie sparring thing that just kept going and going and going. Do you think that added to the eyeballs that you are going to get the night of the fight?
D. White Yes, listen obviously the whole Paulie thing popped up out of nowhere. That thing happened and went down. It is funny all the twists and turns that happen when you are promoting a fight like this.
Obviously he was saying all this crazy stuff for like five or six days. And then finally I was like you know what? I want to put out some of the footage here and just stop all this craziness.
When I put the footage out., just the footage on my Instagram alone it was both Instagram over a million. My Facebook was over two million and Twitter was close to two million too just on mine. That doesn’t include you know everywhere else it went.
Q Are there a couple of things Conor, the person that people aren’t too familiar with that maybe that stand out to you?
D. White Yes I mean Conor, the person is a very loyal guy. He is a good guy. If you look at the people he is around. Very, very, very loyal to his country and his people obviously.
And then his friends, the guys are the same guys that have been around him. He doesn’t try to go, maybe I should go train with this trainer or this camp or these guys. He is very loyal to his own.
He is very smart kid when it comes to fighting. His fight IQ is brilliant. Then he is actually a smart businessman too. The kids has made a lot of really good decisions and you know even when he deals with us he is a very bright guy.
Q Floyd likes to say that Conor stole his blueprint. Do you think he did?
D. White No the thing is that is scary is in a lot of ways I think they are very similar guys. It is not like you can just go out and say, I am going to act like this guy or I am going to act like that guy. Conor is who he is.
Every city he goes he is in a different Bentley or a different Rolls Royce. You have got to be like that.
Listen, I have never been a Rolls Royce in my life. One of the first ones I ever saw was Conor’s in New York. So you are either that type of guy or you are not.
M. Radmanovich Thank you everyone and thank you to our speakers today. Dana White and Conor McGregor. We look forward to seeing everybody here in Las Vegas, next Saturday, August 26th at T-Mobile Arena for what is going to be a great evening of fights. Thank you everyone |
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