Conor McGregor's Press Conference For UFC 197 Was A Lesson On Trash Talking

Full Press Conference

(Source)

Both fighters, along with Holly Holm and Miesha Tate, attended a pre-UFC 197 press conference Wednesday afternoon, and McGregor lived up to his reputation as one of the best talkers in the business.

• “I will behead Rafael dos Anjos. I will drag his head through the streets of Rio de Janeiro. Through a parade of people, I’d imagine. It will become a national holiday.”
• “This man across from me has a title. He has nothing else but that. He is a free-TV fighter.”
• “I put him in that seat. I tell him what to do…. You’re here because I put you here.”
• “We’re sending Rafael on a four-day media run throughout Brazil in a couple of weeks, 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. He will never step off a plane and receive a hero’s welcome in the country of Brazil.”
• “I’ll be fresh after [UFC] 197. I believe I will dust Rafael inside one minute. He is a slower, sloppier version of Aldo. He’s like a bum version of Aldo.”
• “You can talk about your wins and losses, but at the end of the day you’ve tasted that darkness of being KO’d stiff, and you will taste it again on March 5th.”
• “I can only imagine the state Rafael is in coming back-to-back [weight] cuts…. Just looking at him, he’s aged 25 years in the last two weeks.”
• “He’s 5-foot-8 with a 70-inch reach. I’m 5-foot-9 with a 74-inch reach. I’m the bigger man. I’m going to bully this man in his own division.”
• “You stay quiet while I speak. I’m the king.“
• “This is a superfight. I look up on that poster, I see myself tucked in the back there. I see a guy, his last gate was $1.7 million. He fought on free TV. He’s never brought a dime to the company. He’s never made a dime, yet he is sitting there on the front of my poster. I think that’s a department that needs to be looked at. Somebody’s sleeping on the job.”
• “I’m speaking Spanish. I’m dressed like El Chapo in his prime. I’m running this company…. I’m up here verbally destroying this man. I am a multicultured individual.”
• “Steaks every day for me. Steaks for breakfast. Steaks for lunch. Steaks for brunch. Grass-fed, massaged. Beef. All day long.”
• “Me and Jesus are cool. I’m cool with all the gods. Gods recognize gods.”
• “2015 was my year. 2016 is also my year. Every year is my [expletive] year.”
• “I come in here, I cash checks and I transfer them into Euro, and head back to my home country with all the money.”
• “I am out on my own. I am in a league of my own. The game… the game is on its knees. The game must hold seminars every weekend to pay for the training costs, and I’m out here rallying around California in a car that spits fire, dressed like El Chapo, with anacondas on my feet.”

Watching the rise and fall of Conor McGregor is going to be absolutely fascinating. Obviously I say rise lightly because in a big way he’s “made it”, but now we get to see the cross over to the mainstream world that will surely happen in the next 18-24 months. We get to see Conor McGregor and his unbelievable talent of fighting and speaking on full display. And I say 18-24 months because eventually everyone gets got. Conor McGregor is who he is because he hasn’t been knocked out in a big time fight yet. If he gets KO’d in front of the world it’s a little tougher to go around telling your opponent you’re going to behead him and drag his dead body through the streets of his hometown and make it a national holiday. That only works if you can back it up, and right now Conor McGregor can back it up and it’s fucking awesome to watch.

This line is so ruthless because there is probably some truth in it.

“We’re sending Rafael on a four-day media run throughout Brazil in a couple of weeks, 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. 

Not only am I going to beat you senseless but I’m going to have to drag your poor ass from place to place hyping this fight. Hopefully Rafael has a good translator friend that doesn’t tell him all the shit Conor said during this press conference.