McGregor provided some sage corner advice to Alvarez from ringside during Eddie’s tough scrap with Chad Mendes.
When Conor McGregor shows up to a fighting event, he doesn’t just sit quietly in the crowd — he makes his superstar presence known.
At Bellator 187, he jumped right into the cage to celebrate his friend and teammate Charlie Ward’s TKO victory … and then shoved the referee for good measure, almost sparking a brawl. There was no such bad behavior at BKFC 41 on Saturday night, but “The Notorious” did end up in the squared circle following Mike Perry’s win over Luke Rockhold for a friendly face off.
He also provided some unsolicited cornering advice from ringside during the co-main event between Eddie Alvarez and Chad Mendez. McGregor was shouting at both men through the bout, but the most notable moment was when he called for Alvarez to throw an uppercut, which “The Underground King” did to great effect. Alvarez then pointed to McGregor in the crowd, acknowledging the support.
He’d go on to beat Mendes via split decision (watch the highlights here).
Conor McGregor would be a tremendous cornerman. @TheNotoriousMMA pic.twitter.com/WHnzzso65v
— Tarkatawa (@AttarPratiwa) April 30, 2023
It was an interesting moment, especially considering their history. Conor McGregor was the man who took the UFC lightweight title off Eddie Alvarez in November 2016, earning the Irish sports star the distinction of being the first simultaneous double champion in the promotion’s history.
“I thought he was yelling for me, and I did something and I said ‘Good job!’ to him,” Alvarez said in an interview with Helen Yee. “But I heard he was telling [Mendes] stuff, so I think he was playing both sides during the fight.”
As for Alvarez’s future plans now that he’s 1-0 in bare-knuckle boxing, he sounded excited for another fight.
“I’m positive we’re probably going to do a few, one or two more for sure,” he said about continuing to compete with BKFC. “I think there’s some big fights to be made here, and I’m gonna take advantage of that and we’re going to make a big fight, probably our next fight. I need a little bit of rest for these hands, but we’ll make a big fight and hopefully we do that at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia.”
“Conor would be the … I’d love to get that one back,” he said regarding future opponents. “Conor, I s— the bed in Madison Square Garden, that’s something I’d like to get back. And Cowboy [Donald Cerrone] was in attendance, that’s another one I lost, so I got some Ls in that crowd, I’d like to get them back.
“I think the biggest fight right now, I’ll be honest with you, is Mike Perry. I thought originally I was supposed to fight Mike Perry when I came here to BKFC and he ended up fighting Luke Rockhold. I think that’s the largest, biggest fight you can make in BKFC right now. Me and him at a big center, maybe in Philadelphia or something.”
McGregor is firmly signed with UFC at this time, and Cerrone is likely still under contract with them as well. A fight with Mike Perry is right there, though … but first BKFC will have to sign “Platinum” to a new deal. The charismatic brawler revealed that his win over Rockhold was the last fight on his current contract.
After a 3-0 run in BKFC and a face off with Conor McGregor, Perry is certainly moving into a new pay bracket wherever he ends up.