Conor McGregor vs Khabib: Notorious makes mind games revelation after presser storm out

The pair clash in a long-awaited title fight in Las Vegas in the early hours of Sunday morning UK time with McGregor looking to reclaim his crown against the undefeated Russian.

But the Irishman turned up 37 minutes late to the final press conference, blaming traffic, with Nurmagomedov having earlier stormed out of the MGM Park Theatre just as he promised he would if McGregor was not on time.

The UFC lightweight champion answered questions for around 15 minutes before departing instead of waiting for McGregor, declaring that his rival had shown him “big disrespect” and insisting that he wanted to go home and focus on making the 155lb weight limit.

The face-off between the pair will instead take place at tonight’s weigh-ins but former two-weight champion McGregor thinks his press conference exit proves he has gotten inside his rival’s head.

Upon his eventual arrival, McGregor declared: “I don’t know where the little fool is. He’s better off running anyway, I bet he was saying a load of s*** up here.

“He didn’t say anything last time. F*** it, these things happen. I did not plan this, I tried to get here. 

“I’m only a couple of minutes late, the mad backwards c*** should have stayed put.

“That’s a sign, he doesn’t want to be around me, he doesn’t want to be around these people – he’s petrified.

“I’m here to fight this man on Saturday night, it’s more important that he gets the weight off. Get that man in a sauna and cook him like the little chicken-jaw rat that he is.

The pair’s rivalry has grown increasingly personal with tensions continuing to rise over recent weeks and ‘The Notorious’ once again made his feelings towards Nurmagomedov quite clear. 

He added: “F*** him and his mentality. I don’t give a f*** about him. My heart is black towards him, towards his team and towards his people. 

“I can truly see inside that man’s head and style. I don’t give a f*** about him and his people. 

“There is way deeper s*** than just a fight on Saturday night so it is what it is.

“I’m going to settle this the noble way and see what happens after that.

“It’s clear as day, but again I don’t care about his mentality or what he is thinking here. 

“I am ruthless. I am coming to put a hole into this man’s skull, dig my knuckle into his orbital bone and that is what I am going to do.”

UFC 229 Main Fight Card

Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Conor McGregor (lightweight title fight)

Tony Ferguson vs Anthony Pettis (lightweight bout)

Ovince Saint Preux vs Dominick Reyes (light-heavyweight bout)

Derrick Lewis vs Alexander Volkov (heavyweight bout)

Michelle Waterson vs Felice Herring (women’s strawweight bout)