The UFC 189 media conference call had one star. It’s Conor McGregor’s world, Conor McGregor says. And July 11 is a mere formality.
The oddsmakers and, you know, real life will have their say on that, but there’s no question McGregor stole the show on a call with MMA reporters Wednesday. Chad Mendes—announced a day earlier as his new opponent after UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo pulled out with a rib injury—was a game verbal opponent, and the two mixed it up regularly and with emotion.
But the UFC’s lead hype dog remains unchallenged. It will be interesting to see whether that holds up when he meets Mendes for the interim featherweight belt.
Oh, and those two guys fighting in the co-main event? Welterweight champ Robbie Lawler and challenger Rory MacDonald were almost nowhere to be heard, underscoring why their match has flown so low beneath the radar compared with the top headliner.
Case in point:
They can run. But they can’t hide.
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) July 1, 2015
I had a great time shopping today thanks to adidas @AdidasCombatUSA ! https://t.co/2tZgGAPWVp
— robbie lawler (@Ruthless_RL) June 29, 2015
Wednesday’s conference call was a golden opportunity for McGregor to tee off on both Aldo and Mendes. Though Aldo’s injury does appear to be serious enough to justify his withdrawal, McGregor still took the opportunity to lambaste the champ.
“The Irish, we never lie,” McGregor (17-2) said during the call, which was attended by Bleacher Report. “I looked into [Aldo’s] eyes, and I saw fear. It’s something I expected…I don’t blame the man. I was going to f*****g butcher him. Rip him limb from limb.”
This is not the first time Aldo had pulled out of a big fight. The only man to ever hold the lineal UFC featherweight strap, Aldo has only competed five times in the past three-and-a-half years, thanks largely to injuries.
Did McGregor comment on that? Yes, he did. He went so far as to imply that Aldo (25-1) was a coward and to note that the winner at UFC 189, and not Aldo, was the real leader in the 145-pound division.
“I don’t know if he’ll be back,” McGregor said. “If a man pu****s out, and he’s p****d before time and time again. … The [featherweight] belt should rightfully be stripped and given to its rightful owner.”
Understandably, Mendes also was a target, with McGregor again brushing off questions about his ability to defeat an American wrestler, a style of opponent he has yet to face.
This line of inquiry brought perhaps the most heated exchange of the call, with McGregor and Mendes trading barbs.
“You can’t even pass guard,” McGregor told Mendes. “You’re a white belt on the mat.”
Mendes was happy to make his own accusations, doing the verbal equivalent of trading in the pocket.
“You’re not going to be pressuring anything from your back,” Mendes told McGregor. “Are you going to do the splits on me?”
It all makes for great theater. At least if the main event is an interest. Though McGregor and Mendes will only fight for the interim belt, it remains the headliner over the co-main, which will be fought for Lawler’s welterweight title. And this despite the fact that this is a rematch; Lawler bested MacDonald by decision when they first fought in November 2013.
Anyone who wonders about that decision need only pay attention to Wednesday’s call.
“I don’t care about the first fight, or my last fight,” Lawler said. “Because guess what? I get to do what I do. I get to fight.”
MacDonald was only too happy to match cliche with cliche.
“I’m just focused now on the biggest fight of my life,” he said, when asked about any potential interest anyone might have.
Luckily, UFC 189 has Mendes and McGregor. Mendes is a favorite to capture the interim title and, presumably, eventually face Aldo for a third time. But until there’s a winner in the cage, there’s definitely a winner elsewhere.
“I think Chad Mendes is a substitute, the B level,” McGregor said, rightly or not. “He’s a wrestler with an overhand…It’s the McGregor division now.”
All quotes obtained firsthand. Scott Harris writes about MMA for Bleacher Report. For more stuff like this, follow Scott on Twitter.
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