Conor McGregor puts on show for fans at UFC 194 open workouts
LAS VEGAS — The UFC 194 media workouts went fast, up until Conor McGregor. The interim featherweight champion was scheduled to hit the stage last on Thursday in the MGM Grand Garden Arena, after Jose Aldo, Chris Weidman and Luke Rockhold — and McGregor was also a bit late.
The first three fighters breezed through their workouts and media Q&A sessions, but afterward it was announced by Megan Olivi that McGregor wasn't yet even in the arena. About a half-hour after Rockhold left the stage, Olivi came out and let the fans know McGregor was in the building.
There happened to be a techno bagpipes remix playing at that moment, and after getting word that McGregor was near, the crowd roared loudly. Until now, McGregor's partisans' only real chance to roar with gusto was while taunting Aldo earlier in the day.
"Go f*ck yourself!" one shouted during Aldo's Q&A. From then on, Irish flags were waved, spun and whipped around.
McGregor walked out with a neon yellow-green track jacket, spats and a beanie, joined by movement coach Ido Portal. They limbered up together with their unique movement drills, as Notorious B.I.G. played on the speakers.
Only after their warmup was complete did Conor turn toward the crowd while gloving up on the stage right corner of the mats, by clapping his hands together and encouraging them to cheer. They obliged, of course.
Then, it was mitts and pads. McGregor drilled his jab-cross, as well as spinning kicks. The combination chains were longer than those his opponent fired off earlier in the day.
One combination had him throw a one-two, pause, then fire another one-two, ended with a spinning back-kick to the gut of his coach. Once you're out of the way of McGregor's punches, unless you cut an angle, you're still within reach of his flashy and long kicks.
McGregor kept up a good clip with his activity level, as he does during fights. Then, he took the gloves off, sipped water and walked across the mats, nodding and pointing at fans.
This repeated several times, with McGregor's crowd interaction serving as his brief breaks between rounds. After his pad rounds, Portal went at McGregor with a long staff, in slow motion, and then they rolled, spun and crawled a bit together.
After they were done, McGregor made a point to raise the hands of both his coaches, prompting the crowd to cheer them all. "We love you!" not just one fan shouted.
In all, stay-busy McGregor offered up more work than anyone else at the UFC 194 open workouts, spending the most time on stage, training for his fans.
"Thank you so much," McGregor shouted back to the crowd.
"Have a great weekend. Have a great weekend."
