UFC: Conor McGregor steals the show

New location, same old Conor McGregor. The self-anointed king of combat sports hit New York City last night with all of the trademark ferocity and farce we have come to expect, turning the final pre-fight press conference for UFC 205 into an off-Broadway pantomime.

McGregor faces veteran Eddie Alvarez tomorrow night at Madison Square Garden with the opportunity to add the lightweight title to the featherweight belt he so unceremoniously stripped from Jose Aldo Jr at the tail end of last year. Such an outcome would make ‘The Notorious’ the first fighter to control two divisional titles simultaneously in the UFC’s history.

He got himself an early taste of what holding two titles will feel like when after arriving 20 minutes late for the get- together, McGregor sauntered on stage in colourful get-up and grabbed Alvarez’s lightweight title from the other side of the dais. The Philadelphia native had walked off stage in protest of the Dubliner’s tardiness but soon returned and things again threatened to move from farcical to physical.