While no bottles or Monster Energy cans were thrown, there was more shenanigans during the latest press conference for a UFC event headlined by UFC Featherweight Champion Conor McGregor.
On Thursday afternoon, the final UFC 205 pre-fight press conference was held ahead of Saturday’s UFC 205: Alvarez vs. McGregor historic New York debut show, however when the presser began, the biggest star on the card was not present.
UFC President Dana White kicked off the press conference by announcing that “The Notorious” one was running late, but would be showing up at some point before the end of the presser. McGregor’s opponent, seemed annoyed at the fact that he was there while his opponent was not.
Alvarez even pointed out that he is half Irish, however he is ashamed at all of the Irish fans in attendance for going with McGregor as their chosen one, which he emphasized by saying “and THIS is your representative,” while pointing to the empty chair reserved for the UFC 145-pound champion. A few moments later, Alvarez announced that he was leaving and told the UFC boss man to give him a call if McGregor ever finally decides to show up to the press conference.
After making that comment, Alvarez simply got up and walked out, the same way Nate Diaz did at the final UFC 202 pre-fight press conference, a move that sparked the “Bottle-Gate” controversy between himself and McGregor.
At 3:23pm EST. / 12:23pm PT., McGregor finally showed up, to the delight of the packed house inside The Theater At Madison Square Garden in ew York City. “Sorry I’m late, I just don’t give a f*ck” said McGregor, who was sporting an extravagant fur coat, when making his first comments on the microphone.
Moments later, McGregor and Alvarez nearly got into a scuffle. This led to McGregor getting incredibly worked up for a brief period of time. He had to be physically restrained by Dana White, who did everything in his power to keep the two apart. At one point, McGregor actually grabbed his steel chair and raised it over his head, seemingly with intentions of throwing it at Alvarez.
For those who missed the final UFC 205 pre-fight press conference, you can watch a complete video archive by clicking here or by hitting “Play” on the YouTube player embedded below.