McGregor ‘cannot wait to perform’ at Madison Square Garden
By DENIS P. GORMAN | Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) — Irishman Conor McGregor made his Madison Square Garden debut Tuesday night with expected bravado.
“(The Irish) built this city. Now I’m coming to claim what’s ours,” McGregor said in a press conference at the Theatre at Madison Square Garden, where UFC announced its UFC 205 event.
McGregor aims to become the first fighter to hold two UFC belts simultaneously when the sport makes a splashy entrance into the last U.S. state to legalize mixed martial arts.
The wildly popular brawler is fighting in the main event for Eddie Alvarez’s lightweight belt — one of three title fights on a card with several matches that could easily headline a different event. The UFC wants its Madison Square Garden event on Nov. 12 to top the promotion’s biggest cards, especially after UFC 200 in July was marred by doping violations and a lineup that reshuffled several times.
“It’s an honor to be here,” McGregor said. “I cannot wait to perform. … The Irish love New York and I’m honored to be here.”
The stacked card also includes new welterweight champion Tyron Woodley’s first title defense against Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson, along with strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk’s defense against fellow Pole Karolina Kowalkiewicz. Popular veteran fighters Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone, Miesha Tate, Frankie Edgar, Chris Weidman and Rashad Evans also are in the show.
For the card’s depth, McGregor is its main selling point. And he knows it.
UFC was purchased by the WME-IMG talent agency from Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta in July for $4 billion, a fact that McGregor was quick to point out.
“$4.2 billion,” McGregor said. “$4.2 billion. That’s what I’m worth to this company.”
McGregor (20-3) has become the UFC’s biggest active star in the past two years with a series of gritty fights and a loquacious promotional style. Although he won the UFC’s featherweight title in December with a 13-second knockout of Jose Aldo, his last two fights were lucrative welterweight bouts against Nate Diaz, with McGregor avenging his loss to Diaz in August. He was originally scheduled to headline UFC 200 in Las Vegas against Diaz, but the bout was bumped when McGregor bickered with the UFC over money and promotional obligations.
Following UFC 202, the Nevada Athletic Commission announced McGregor was on a six-month injury suspension. During the press conference, though, McGregor claimed he was completely healthy.
“That fight was five weeks ago,” McGregor said. “I came out of that fight fresher than (when) I went in. Look at Nate’s face. Nate will never look the same. I came out brand new. I had a bruised foot.”
McGregor gets to keep his 145-pound title when he takes on Alvarez (28-4), who won the 155-pound belt in July with a first-round stoppage of Rafael Dos Anjos. McGregor still hasn’t defended the featherweight belt.
White said UFC “would figure that out when it happens,” when asked whether the promotion would allow McGregor to hold the 145-pound and 155-pound titles at the same time.
McGregor, naturally, had his views on the subject.
“I’m going to wrap one on one shoulder and wrap the other one on the other shoulder,” McGregor said. “It’ll take an army to come take those belts off me.”
