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After an absence of two and a half years, UFC Double Champion Conor McGregor finally made his much-awaited promotional return last night in New York City as part of the inaugural UFC 229 Press Conference.
As expected, right after McGregor's return to the UFC, the Irishman almost immediately unloaded all of his madness and proved the entire world why he is quite arguably the best trash talker in the game right now.
McGregor, who is currently slated to challenge for the Lightweight Championship on the 6th of October, came face-to-face with current champion Khabib Nurmagomedov for the very first time ahead of their historic fight. And among other things, The Notorious One trash talked about Khabib's father, his manager, and even offered the Dagestani a glass of his own Proper Twelve Irish Whiskey.
With that being said, there were definitely a lot of other things that we got to learn from the first UFC 229 Presser and it'll only be fair for us to recap on last night's historic Press Conference from the Radio City Music Hall.
#5 Conor McGregor openly claims that he would've murdered Khabib
Conor McGregor's infamous bus attack and backstage melee at UFC 223 took the entire MMA World by storm and we now know for the fact that it all initially started with Khabib Nurmagomedov getting into a heated backstage altercation with McGregor's training partner Artem Lobov at UFC 223.
Last night at the UFC 229 Press Conference, McGregor had openly stated to the public and the media that he is thankful for the fact that Khabib Nurmagomedov was a "coward" who opted to stay in the bus and did not have the nerve to get out of that team bus, because, apparently if Khabib had done so, then McGregor would've murdered The Dagestani right there on spot.
just thank the lord Jesus Christ that that man did not have the balls to step foot off that bus because trust me — or that the bus door did not open — because if that bus door had opened, I would not be here right now. He would be in a box, and I would be in a cell".- McGregor stated at the Press Conference.
#4 Khabib Nurmagomedov bills himself as the Floyd Mayweather of MMA
Khabib Nurmagomedov currently stands at a record of 26-0 in MMA and has been labeled as one of the most dominant competitors to ever step foot into the Octagon. Similarly, veteran Boxer Floyd Mayweather, who last retired from the sport with an undefeated record of 50-0, is another iconic figure to ever grace combat sports.
Mayweather and Nurmagomedov surely share a lot of similarities with each other, including their intense hatred towards Irishman Conor McGregor, however, during last night's UFC 229 Presser, it was Nurmagomedov who somewhat took a shot at Mayweather by making a really bold statement about himself.
When asked about his thoughts on Floyd Mayweather's recent comments about McGregor's fighting abilities, The Eagle, in response claimed that he is the "Floyd Mayweather of MMA".
#3 McGregor puts rest to Diaz rivalry for the time being
On 6th October, 2018, at UFC 229, Conor McGregor will look forward to pulling off the unthinkable by doing what no fighter has ever done before and that is to defeat Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Then, followed up by the aftermath of UFC 229, McGregor's biggest rival Nate Diaz will be making his return to the Octagon against top Lightweight contender Dustin Poirier at UFC 230.
The beef between McGregor and Diaz has certainly developed into one of the most blood intense feuds' in MMA, however, during the UFC 229 Press Conference, The Notorious One apparently took some time out to promote the upcoming clash between his former rivals Diaz and Poirier.
think it's going to be a great fight. Two amazing fighters. Nate Diaz is as tough as they come. Dustin Poirier took that loss on the chin, came back, has showcased mental strength and has had some great, phenomenal fights inside the Octagon. I'm very, very much looking forward to it. We'll see what happens. I wish both men the best of luck and we'll see."- McGregor stated.
#2 Khabib questions Conor McGregor and his team's audacity
One thing that we certainly picked up last evening's press conference was Khabib Nurmagomedov's constant questioning about the boldness of McGregor's fellow teammate Artem Lobov, with whom The Eagle had an intense backstage altercation at UFC 223.
Regardless of all the footage that went viral on social media, last night at the Radio City Music Hall, Khabib apparently once again agreed to the fact that he had indeed slapped McGregor's training partner Artem Lobov during their confrontation and later went on to question The Russian Hammer's fearlessness by stating that why Lobov didn't hit back at The Eagle despite taking a slap to the face?
“If my friend ever gets slapped, I would ask ‘why you didn’t give him back’. You have to fight. If you lose we gonna come. What’s wrong with him? What’s wrong with your team?”
Furthermore, Nurmagomedov also constantly kept on pointing out the fact that during the backstage incident at UFC 223, McGregor had shown up with some 30-40 people, instead of having just one, two, or even a maximum of ten guys around himself. If the latter was the case then maybe Khabib would've eventually gotten off that bus and had gone head-to-head against McGregor for the very first time.
#1 Conor McGregor provokes Khabib over World Cup final pic with Russian President Vladimir Putin
At this year's FIFA World Cup, former UFC Lightweight Champion Conor McGregor was present in the stands during the finals of the tournament, alongside his arch-rival Khabib Nurmagomedov and the Russian President, Vladimir Putin as well.
McGregor seemed to be pretty much buzzing about the fact that he clicked a photo with the Russian President, however, as far as Khabib was concerned, the current UFC Lightweight Champion apparently isn't a big fan of clicking a photo with someone else and that also includes his very own President Mr. Vladimir Putin.
After being asked by a reporter, how Khabib had felt looking from the stands during the final of the FIFA World Cup, The Eagle stated that it was indeed a great experience and it was certainly a great Football match as well.
"It was great match, you know. How I feel? I don't feel nothing, because I never want to take picture with someone. Doesn't matter with president or with someone..."- Khabib stated.
"Are you disrespecting your president Vladimir Putin!?" McGregor keenly interjected. "Are you disrespecting your president Vladimir Putin!? Then what do you mean by that?"- McGregor stated in response.
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