UFC 229: Khabib vs McGregor

[David]

24 minutes ago, ColinBollocks said:

I don't think anyone is saying Khabib is a shitting wreck like Aldo was, but there were a couple of lines where Khabib clearly was pissed off, which is what Conor is going for.

Is the aim just to annoy him though? I always though in the past that the stuff McG said was to make his opponents doubt themselves, to make them start to believe that maybe their game plan wasn't going to work? That what they considered to be their strengths wasn't actually their strengths?

I recall him against Aldo being very sure of himself, consistently talking about how he was going to destroy him, he would be talking about victory in a very matter of fact way.

Last night he was a sweaty, bug eyed twitcher, hurling lines about Khabib's old man smelling of shite. 

In all honesty I think Khabib had problems understanding anything he said. Christ, I'm fucking Scottish and I had problems understanding what he was saying at certain points!

[ColinBollocks]

If it sells the fight, then job done, however.

Dana said on ESPN this morning that the views for the press conference broke their best May-Mac number. That's mad if true.

@David Given the research Conor put in and his previous, I'm certain he had a game plan for this. Again, whether or not it was the plan to come across as a mad coked up mess, or whether he is a mad coked up mess is something we'll maybe never know. However, it's important to remember that Conor is usually always thinking of ways to rattle an opponent for these. The fact he went so deep with his research suggests he's been thinking about this one for a while. Obviously, it was a lot more fun, but with Aldo, Conor was doing all sorts of mad stuff to fuck with him. I'm sure if he grabbed that belt today folk would say it's the ching.

[David]

12 minutes ago, ColinBollocks said:

 

@David Given the research Conor put in and his previous, I'm certain he had a game plan for this. Again, whether or not it was the plan to come across as a mad coked up mess, or whether he is a mad coked up mess is something we'll maybe never know. However, it's important to remember that Conor is usually always thinking of ways to rattle an opponent for these. The fact he went so deep with his research suggests he's been thinking about this one for a while. Obviously, it was a lot more fun, but with Aldo, Conor was doing all sorts of mad stuff to fuck with him. I'm sure if he grabbed that belt today folk would say it's the ching.

Yeah, I'm not talking about his actual physical antics like grabbing the belt and so on, i'm talking about his general demeanour.

At no point last night did he look in control of himself. He was stuttering, getting his words mixed up, looking quite flustered a lot of the time. As I said, there were more than a few instances where I was actually puzzled as to what he was saying.

Could it all be an act? Possibly. I don't think it is though.

Remember we were all discussing the weird lack of build for this? Some of us wondering why it hadn't been as intensive as previous McG fights? Some thought it may be because he was demanding time to to train and so on?

I think we know the answer now. White looked as though he was shitting himself the full time, as though he just wanted to get it over and done with as soon as possible and get McGregor the fuck off the stage.

And while he may have been doing his research, he needs to watch who's he's badmouthing and who he's running down when he's saying these things. It's all well and good for us sitting in front of our laptops in Wirral or Hull who think it's fantastic and very pro wrasslin-esque, but when a guy who was born and raised in that region refuses to respond to what you're saying and chooses to stay quiet it should be a bit of a pointer. 

You start a coke-fuelled rant about shit like that and you can wind up with problems. Virtually every book I've ever read that even hints about the politics in the northern Caucasus regions goes to great lengths to point out that you cannot generalise about that part of the world. I'm sure (not 100% though) that I've read that there are something like ten different groups who all claim to be indigenous to the area, and there are around 30 spoken languages in the place.

Unless McGregor's absorbed the kind of information that many experienced tenured Professors still have problems getting their heads around there's every chance he's getting a lot of what he's saying wrong, and you don't want to be getting shit wrong and possibly offending the kind of people that can be found both living there and from there. Most will not even know who he is or what he's saying, but there are loose canons who will take umbrage at a white westerner chatting shit about their country while speaking Islamic phrases and brandishing alcohol around.

I've heard from some fairly reliable sources that Conor's coke-fuelled mouth and behaviour has gotten him into trouble with some tasty people at home, with him being so wrapped up in his own aura that he's went from dressing like El Chapo and Tony Montana to thinking he is them.

The boy is a liability, and I'd hoped after this fight he'd maybe go away and get himself straightened out.

[Bus Surfer]

In all honesty it made me super uncomfortable. I can't recall but has he got much form on calling people 'Cunts' in the past? The Putin stuff I felt was a really shitty and a silly game to be playing too. Just an all out car crash but it'll sell a shit load. 

I love him hard selling the whiskey all night and they they reveal that it's fucking sponsoring 229, all whilst other fighters can't even get a non Reebok logo on their shorts. 

Christ. 

[John Matrix]

I've been thinking about this a lot overnight, and some of the latter comments in this thread about it being a calculated performance got me thinking even more.

I watched it last night and my gut reaction was that Conor must have been off his fucking nut.  The jerky movement, the hyperactivity, the turning it up a notch even by his own manic standards, it was just light years removed from the last time I saw him in that kind of setting - even during the Maywether promo tours, he did his usual loud and sweary schtick, but there was a composure and a deliberacy about him which seemed completely absent yesterday.

But then I thought, and I caveat this with the knowledge that we're talking about a man who no one could forgive for thinking he was untouchable at this stage, how fucking stupid would you have to be, during the most stringent drug testing era in the sports history, to step out into a high profile press conference as seemingly under the influence as he appeared to be. 

Admittedly, i'm crediting Conor with the capacity for rational thought which I confess is a bit of a stretch when talking about the man who nearly jeopardised a lucrative high profile event, by sticking a few nobhead mates on a plane and attacking a fucking bus, but if I were USADA i'd be checking my schedule this morning and popping straight over with a fresh piss cup based on what I saw - they can do unscheduled, on the spot checks right?

For that reason alone I can't help but think the man would have to be a complete lunatic to step in front of the cameras like he was appearing on Stars In Their Eyes "Tonight Dana, I'm going to be Tony Montana".  which makes me question whether or not there was an element of performance, whether his apparent mania was in fact a calculated smoke screen intended to fuel the perception that he's 'lost it, off the rails, unprepared' etc.

BUT....look at him.  Ignore the words, the movement, the volume and just look at him.  If I was new to the sport and you'd told me he was a 45 year old returning legend, I'd have said "Cor, should they be letting him back in there?"  He looked, in my opinion, terrible.  Not gaunt or drained like pre-weigh in terrible, just terrible.  Haggard, tired, weathered, however you want to describe it.  I'm sure I read on here the other day, someone said he'd posted to Instagram whilst out Jet-Skiing at one in the morning, I can quite believe that looking at him.  Whichever way you slice it, we're looking at a different beast in McGregor this time round.  Whether that's drugs, delusion or what I don't know, but if he can turn up in the cage in a few weeks time and put on a composed, controlled performance then i'll take my hat off to him, because he's doing a fucking incredible job of portraying a man who is no longer capable of either of those things anymore.

[Supremo]

Great post, Matrix.

That, “illusion of madness,” thing is in his film, “Notorious.” He’s sitting on the bus after chucking bottles like a maniac at the Diaz brothers and goes super calm and quiet. So there’s definitely the chance that’s what’s happening here, too.

I don’t buy it though. That didn’t look like a man who was going to drop the act when he left the room. He looked like a man who was heading out on a bender. 

I hope he proves us all wrong.

[John Matrix]

2 minutes ago, Supremo said:

Great post, Matrix.

That, “illusion of madness,” thing is in his film, “Notorious.” He’s sitting on the bus after chucking bottles like a maniac at the Diaz brothers and goes super calm and quiet. So there’s definitely the chance that’s what happening here, too.

I don’t buy it though. That didn’t look like a man who was going to drop the act when he left the room. He looked like a man who was heading out on a bender. 

I hope he proves us all wrong.

Thanks chief!

I think he said as much didn't he?  Sure I remember during one of the subtle plugs for his side venture that the press were welcome to join him and try some at a bar he was going to afterwards or something?

[ColinBollocks]

48 minutes ago, Silky Kisser said:

I love him hard selling the whiskey all night and they they reveal that it's fucking sponsoring 229, all whilst other fighters can't even get a non Reebok logo on their shorts. 

 

New 6-fight deal he's signed. Part of the contract includes his whiskey advertised on the canvas of every card he's on. Yeah, he's got a lot of what he's wanted for a long time, which is fair play. Nice to see fighters not be complete slaves to the mother ship.

Yeah. As I typed, maybe I'm off with the "illusion of madness" stuff, but it's worth keeping in the back of your mind when talking about Conor losing the plot. Obviously he was a little more erratic last night, but people have been saying Conor is losing it for a few years now. Although, yes, probably coke.

[DJM]

Are there any more press conferences between Conor and Khabib before the fight?

[Porkchopcash]

It’s all a work brother.

[Richard]

Conor being overbearing to the point of unwatchable was him trying to hop back into the shoes of the gimmick rather than him losing control was my read. His job was to sell the fight. He seemed rusty in parts, incoherent and stumbling at times but he hit the mark and had a couple of strong lines that the UFC promo guys will run with all the way to fight night. It was telling when Conor was asked about the Diaz/Poirier fight he was calm, diplomatic and well reserved. I think a few on here have well and truly been worked to be honest.

Did he come across as a shadow of his former self? No. It felt like the Rock returning in 2012 after a few years off, rusty, but still king. 

[wandshogun09]

I don't think we're being worked. He's not looking, acting or sounding right to me. Better actors than McGregor would've struggled to come across more unhinged than he did last night. It was a mess from start to finish. 

And even if it is just an act and he's worked everyone, so what? How's that helping him when the cage door shuts? Convincingly pulling off 'deranged cokehead' and fooling people into thinking he's lost the plot isn't going to improve his takedown defence or ability to get from under Khabib. He worked a bunch of people before the Mayweather fight. Worked them into believing he'd destroyed Paulie Malignaggi in sparring, based off about 12 seconds of footage. And he worked them into believing that with one camp, sparring Artem fucking Lobov, he was going to have that pro boxing shit down and do what 49 actual pro boxers couldn't do, knock out Floyd Mayweather. His ability to make people believe in him might be even better than his ability to fight. But at the end of it all, there's going to be a fight. And all this silly shit will mean fuck all. I hope he is working us all because I want to see the best fight possible out of this. But I think people are giving McGregor too much credit if they think he's pulling some masterstroke and deliberately looking a rough as arseholes rambling shambles in a suit.

And if he's going to the lengths the 'it's a work' people say then do you not question why? He can't be that confident about this fight deep down if he thinks he needs to method act to make everyone think he's lost his marbles to help him win. I get that mind games are part of fighting but pulling off some acting performance just to make people think you've gone full mental is next level as far as pre-fight mind games go. Like I said, it reeks of a desperation move. Like he's having to go all out with the mental warfare because deep down he knows that, physically, it's a bastard of a matchup style-wise.

It does makes me laugh how Khabib sits there, pretty calmly for a guy who's got someone screaming at him and trying to goad him, and people say he's 'gotten to'. Yet McGregor's going fucking berserk ranting and raving, seems under the influence of something, can't stop moving and keeps flitting from one incoherent point to another, but if you say you think he's lost it you get the 'lol he's working you bro' responses, because he's such a genius and known for his self control and never losing the head. People seem to see only what they want to see with McGregor. Even when I really liked him it was something that always seemed slightly weird to me. Like the 'Aldo was terrified of Conor' cobblers. I think Aldo was certainly wound up and angry and McGregor did a grand job getting him like that. But this thing that Aldo was shitting himself is odd. I saw nothing of the sort. I don't know what people were seeing that I was missing but Aldo looked the same as always that fight week. Who are these online psychologists and body language experts who were able to detect trembling fear from Aldo from a slight eyebrow raise or a deep breath or whatever? Yet when Conor is actually giving us loads of clues that he's off his fucking nut people won't have it and would rather believe that the man with the Tony The Tiger tattoo on his chest who publicly slags off Russian gangsters is way too smart and he's actually fooling us all. 

If McGregor wins this fight it won't be because he's tricking people into thinking he's a coked up basket case. Which is why I don't see why he'd pretend. It's not going to help him. Him 'working us' and acting the nutcase would require some level of self awareness that I'm not convinced he has. I doubt he actually thinks he came off as an over the top knobhead at all. He probably thinks he looked well cool carrying on like that.

[TildeGuy~!]

Would we be saying the same about Conor being an absolute mess if the presser was in front of a arena full of fans? 

I doubt it, ranting and raving in silence just isn’t the same.

[ColinBollocks]

No one knows for sure, of course, but I'm not sure either man is rattled by the fight. Conor has always been loud and obnoxious, getting in peoples faces and acting up. I think his behaviour is more than likely because he had a bump or five, then had a couple of shots of his whiskey which led to him stumbling a bit.

I do tip my hat that I was over egging the "Aldo shitting himself" comment to make a point (as is my want). Although, yes, Aldo was clearly bothered, as Conor was acting the mad bastard by getting in his face and what not. My point being I don't think Khabib is saying "fuck this guy. We go Ali v Frazier" despite a few of Conor's shots landing.

Again, Conor isn't above acting up to get either a rise out of himself or his opponent - which is why I brought it up, even if it's off. I also brought up Ali v Liston because Ali basically pretended he was absolutely bat shit mental to wind up Liston. Did Ali need to do it? He felt so. Of course, whether or not he was here is well, you know, but last night was a weird mix of studied barbs and ranting madness.

[Porkchopcash]

I dont think it will help him win the fight, i think he’ll lose the fight around the second round, but i just think his persona is a slight work, it’s got everyone discussing him and i imagine thats what he loves. 

I imagine he was like apollo after the drago press conference.