One of the most ground breaking fights in the history of the UFC is shortly upon us, as UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor will attempt to become the first dual-weight champion in UFC history when he takes on Eddie Alvarez for the lightweight championship.
Ahead of their monumental meeting, ‘The Notorious One’ and ‘The Underground King’ got an opportunity to jaw off at one another on the UFC 205 conference call that took place earlier today (Thursday, November 3, 2016), and jaw off they did. The brash Irishman, however, took over the verbal spat as he usually does when engaged in verbal warfare, and fired a slew of insults his opponent’s way.
While McGregor does acknowledge that Alvarez is a very tough and durable fighter, the former two weight Cage Warriors champ believes that Alvarez’s deteriorated chin will not be able to withstand his fight-ending power:
“I don’t mind Eddie, he just doesn’t really come into the equation in my head. I have so many ways that I can enter a contest, I have so many different stylistic attacks. I can enter a contest and be a Tae Kwon Do expert, I can enter a contest and be boxing specific, I can be grappling, wrestling, I can paint so many pictures in there. I can go in an implement a muay thai style, and I can implement them all in the space of one round. I’m just gonna go in and put on a show, this is my 155-pound debut inside the UFC. Nobody has seen me at this weight inside the Octagon, so I’m looking forward to going in there. Eddie, he is tough, durable, I’ll give him that. He’s been through war after war, his chin is banged up. If he can last — I don’t believe he will be able to withstand the barrage of strikes. If he can last I’ll give him respect, but this is the McGregor Show. He will be dismantled and put away and that will be it.”
McGregor and Alvarez first met face-to-face after their bout’s announcement in the UFC 205 press conference where the entire card took questions from the media. After the event the two men squared off in their first stare-down before they lock horns inside the Octagon, to where McGregor says he got the feeling that the 155-pound champ may not be taking the contest all that seriously:
“I just figured it’s a guy that’s — he’s thinking it’s a game. It’s like you look into these people’s eyes and they don’t see it as a reality just yet and they’re trying to look away and make it something else. This isn’t happening. And then we’re in the Octagon and we’re about to fight, and I see what I see in their eyes. We came face-to-face and he tried to stand on his tippy toes and make these faces, funny faces, it was actually a weird reaction. It humored me. But it’s like they put it off, they put it off as part of a game. This is just part of something I gotta do to get to this fight, then I see them break bit by bit. Then we’re in the Octagon and I break them myself. So that’s it, I’m looking forward to going in.
“He’s claiming it’s an easier contest, I look forward to when the eyes shift, when the eyes roll and the electric shock darts throughout his body and goes to his knees, and then he comes up and he’s in survival mode and that panic sets throughout his whole body, his whole face. That’s something I’m looking forward to and I will go out there and I will punish him for those words he is saying. I’m going to retire him on this night. He has been through a hell of a lot of wars, he’s been rocked continuously, I can see it on him. You can see the effects of war on his face, and respect to him he’s a fighter — nothing but respect, but this will be it for you. You’re going to be badly, badly hurt Eddie and I mean that. You will not fight again after this, you will not look the same, you will not think the same, and that’s it.”
The featherweight champ feels that once he is locked inside the Octagon with Alvarez ready to go to war, he will put a barrage on him so devastating that he will rearrange his facial structure, opening the door for the former Bellator champ’s retirement from mixed martial arts (MMA) competition:
“I feel they are going to see something they have never seen before. I am going to toy with this man, and I’m gonna really truly rearrange his facial structure. His wife and kids won’t ever recognize him again. His friends and the people who know him will know that he will not be the same man after this contest. He’s gonna be in a shock when he see’s that.”
‘Mystic Mac’ is notorious for his pre-fight predictions, often predicting the endings of his bouts rather accurately, and this time he is estimating that Alvarez will not make it out of the first round of their meeting that is just two weeks away:
“It’s a historic moment, it’s great to be here, it’s great to do this, to bring the game to that new level, it’s great to lead the way here in New York City. The Irish have a strong history with New York and the east coast. As far as the prediction, I believe first round, I don’t believe — I know he’s durable but I don’t believe he’s been hit by anybody like me. I don’t believe he will survive, if he does survive and be in that survivor mode then I’m gonna toy with him and rearrange his face for his words that he is speaking right now. I still can’t see him lasting one round.”
When asked about his struggles against Chad Mendes in their main event meeting at UFC 189 in July of last year, Alvarez mockingly reiterated the question at ‘The Notorious One’, who would respond by pointing out that he knocked ‘Money’ out in the second round and further claimed that Mendes was a better fighter than Alvarez.
McGregor noted that every man he has stepped into the Octagon with has never come out the same, using Nate Diaz, Mendes, and Jose Aldo as examples, and indicated that Alvarez’s situation will be no different:
“Your talking about five fights ago — that second round KO? That butchering? I changed that boy, I changed that boy also. Know that. When Frankie beat him he was damaged goods. He’s faster than you (Alvarez). He’s got better boxing than you, cleaner wrestling than you, he’s a better fighter than you! What are you talking about? You’re bigger and more stuffed! Have you seen him since? Have you seen him since he fought me? Go have a look at Nate.
“Go speak to Nate, go look at his face. Look at Jose, how is Jose doing? Anyone that fights me, it’s over for them. It’s going to be the exact same for you, you’ll never ever ever going to be the same! Ever again in your life. Your kids after this fight are gonna beg you ‘daddy, daddy please don’t go again!’”
With all the bad blood that has begun to spill out between McGregor and Alvarez over these past few weeks since the bout’s announcement, mixed with the historical nature that the card and main events themselves hold, this match-up just got a whole lot bigger for MMA fans watching worldwide.
UFC 205 will go down live on pay-per-view (PPV) from the Madison Square Garden arena in New York City on Saturday November 12, 2016.
You can listen to the full conference call here below:
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