UFC Lightweight Champion Khabib Nurmagomedov is defending the gold against Conor McGregor next month in the main event of UFC 229.
Dana White was also at the podium for the “dark” UFC 229 press conference, but also says that McGregor is better at mental warfare than the late Muhammad Ali.
“It was dark, man,” White told MMA Junkie. “It was the darkest press conference I’ve ever been a part of. But Conor McGregor is the master of mental warfare. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: He’s better than anybody. Even (Muhammad) Ali. You don’t want to say anybody’s better than Ali, but I think when it comes to the mental war game in this sport, or any other sport, Conor McGregor is the best ever.”
McGregor and Nurmagomedov shared the podium opposite White, with McGregor ranting and raving for the majority of the press conference.
When it comes to the mind games fighters play against each other, a confident White says McGregor is the best of them all.
“Here’s the thing about McGregor, too: He’s so good at it – he studies,” White said. “He studies every little thing. He talks to people. He finds out stories inside of a guy’s camp. Look at the whole thing he did on ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ with Urijah Faber, with T.J. Dillashaw and Cody Garbrandt and all those guys. At one point he had Cody Garbrandt jumping up trying to fight him. He is the master. He is the best ever to do it. Nobody does it better than Conor does.”
UFC 229 takes place on Saturday, October 6 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada with Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast to follow.
