Complete Coverage: UFC 229: Khabib vs. McGregor Post-Fight Press Conference
Hear from Dana White and more stars of UFC 229. Updates will begin when the post-fight press conference begins. Newest updates appear at the bottom. Refresh for the latest comments.
Well…..probably going to be a long night with this press conference. Buckle up everyone.
— Fightful MMA (@FightfulMMA) October 7, 2018
Reyes up first. Calls OSP dangerous and that he didn’t want to rush the finish in the first.
— Fightful MMA (@FightfulMMA) October 7, 2018
Reyes says he wanted to pace himself. Believes he scored a knockout and doesn’t regret finishing him off after dropping him.
— Fightful MMA (@FightfulMMA) October 7, 2018
Reyes calls out Jan Blachowicz.
— Fightful MMA (@FightfulMMA) October 7, 2018
Reyes says he did not get an explanation as to why it wasn’t ruled a KO but would like one.
— Fightful MMA (@FightfulMMA) October 7, 2018
“I was much faster and my technique was better.” – Reyes
— Fightful MMA (@FightfulMMA) October 7, 2018
Reyes believes he’s in the top 10 and thinks he’s a contender now. Says he had a better left hand than Conor tonight.
— Fightful MMA (@FightfulMMA) October 7, 2018
Reyes doesn’t blame security because something like the brawl is unexpected. Blames the guys involved. “It’s more a blemish on the guys involved than the sport as a whole”
— Fightful MMA (@FightfulMMA) October 7, 2018
It looks like Conor McGregor will not take part in the post-fight press conference
— Fightful MMA (@FightfulMMA) October 7, 2018
Tony Ferguson up now. Says he had mixed emotions after the fight. “Crying, laughing, everything.”
— Fightful MMA (@FightfulMMA) October 7, 2018
Says he smiled at the first leg kick because he knew it was going to be a fight. Ferguson says he hasn’t spared in 4-5 years. Wouldn’t call himself hurt tonight.
— Fightful MMA (@FightfulMMA) October 7, 2018
“I’m the champ. These two knuckleheads making the sport look bad.” – Ferguson.
— Fightful MMA (@FightfulMMA) October 7, 2018
Ferguson says he and Khabib deserve to fight. “Conor doesn’t want to fight me. Nobody wants to be trapped in the cage with me. They want to be animals, I’m the dog catcher.”
— Fightful MMA (@FightfulMMA) October 7, 2018
Ferguson doesn’t think Pettis is a quitter. Says he was happy to battle adversity. “I do so well under chaos.” Says he’ll go up to 170 and clean out that division as well.
— Fightful MMA (@FightfulMMA) October 7, 2018
Ferguson once again states that he’s the champ and believes he and Pettis should win Fight of the Night.
— Fightful MMA (@FightfulMMA) October 7, 2018
Ferguson says he’s going to celebrate with pizza. “You don’t want me to have a big head like Conor.” Says he has a business team behind him to get himself set up after fighting, which includes going for his doctorate.
— Fightful MMA (@FightfulMMA) October 7, 2018
Ferguson says he’s trying to clean up the sport. Calls the brawl “entertainment.”
— Fightful MMA (@FightfulMMA) October 7, 2018
Ferguson says he saw fear in McGregor’s eye at the weigh ins.
— Fightful MMA (@FightfulMMA) October 7, 2018
“I’ll be ready next week” – Ferguson. Says he’s going to watch film tonight while enjoying pizza, a can of coke, and M&Ms. Says he fights for his son.
— Fightful MMA (@FightfulMMA) October 7, 2018
“We learned Conor is human.” Says Khabib and Conor don’t like to get bloody. Says you can’t prepare for a fighter like him.
— Fightful MMA (@FightfulMMA) October 7, 2018
Ferguson says he was offered a finish bonus, not a win bonus, which is why is win bonus is only $5K.
— Fightful MMA (@FightfulMMA) October 7, 2018
“Rematch? Conor got finished. If you get finished, you have to move on.” – Ferguson.
— Fightful MMA (@FightfulMMA) October 7, 2018
Ferguson says he was able to come back in 6 months because of how he treated his body. “I took the Kobe Bryant approach.”
— Fightful MMA (@FightfulMMA) October 7, 2018
Ferguson believes he deserves a title fight. Wouldn’t mind fighting Conor. Gives him his respect.
— Fightful MMA (@FightfulMMA) October 7, 2018
Ferguson ends by putting over his suit game. He was all over the place, but it was certainly entertaining.
— Fightful MMA (@FightfulMMA) October 7, 2018
Dana White up now. This should be something.
— Fightful MMA (@FightfulMMA) October 7, 2018
“I saw one of Conor’s guys talking to Khabib and Khabib went after him. Two of Khabib’s guys got into the Octagon and hit Conor with some shots from behind” – Dana. Says NSAC are investigating the footage. Khabib’s purse has been withheld.
— Fightful MMA (@FightfulMMA) October 7, 2018
Dana didn’t want to put belt on Khabib because people would be throwing stuff.
— Fightful MMA (@FightfulMMA) October 7, 2018
Dana says Conor refused to press charges. The 3 members from Khabib’s team that were arrested were released because Conor didn’t press charges.
— Fightful MMA (@FightfulMMA) October 7, 2018
Dana says the guys involved won’t fight in the UFC. No word on Khabib’s status.
— Fightful MMA (@FightfulMMA) October 7, 2018
Dana credits security for containing the brawl.
— Fightful MMA (@FightfulMMA) October 7, 2018
“This isn’t the last time guys are going to say mean things to each other.” Dana isn’t really pressed on using the bus footage leading to the brawl.
— Fightful MMA (@FightfulMMA) October 7, 2018
“The biggest night ever. And I couldn’t be more disappointed.” – Dana.
— Fightful MMA (@FightfulMMA) October 7, 2018
Dana now pressed on the bus footage. Says he doesn’t regret using the footage. “It’s part of the story.”
— Fightful MMA (@FightfulMMA) October 7, 2018
Dana says Conor was more disappointed about the result of the fight than the aftermath. Says he hasn’t talked to Khabib. Credits Cormier and Rockhold for calming the situation.
— Fightful MMA (@FightfulMMA) October 7, 2018
“It’s definitely not a good thing. Maybe I’m taking this harder than I should. This is not what we’re about.” Basically says Red Sox/Yankees games are worse.
— Fightful MMA (@FightfulMMA) October 7, 2018
Dana doesn’t think punishing Conor for the bus incident would have stopped the hatred between the camps. “It’s so much bigger than that. This is street shit. Not sport.”
— Fightful MMA (@FightfulMMA) October 7, 2018
“A suspension may have pissed him off even more because he wanted to fight Conor so bad” – Dana
— Fightful MMA (@FightfulMMA) October 7, 2018
Dana says it’s not 100% certain that Khabib won’t be stripped. “The NCSAC is going to go after him hard. The governor was here. He went running out of the building.”
— Fightful MMA (@FightfulMMA) October 7, 2018
Dana doesn’t know what’s next for anyone. Says he’s not thinking about that stuff or the PPVs buys. Bigger things to worry about.
— Fightful MMA (@FightfulMMA) October 7, 2018
Dana says this is still one of the biggest moments of his career. But isn’t feeling good. “We should be celebrating.”
— Fightful MMA (@FightfulMMA) October 7, 2018
“If they give him a really light punishment, then we’ll go from there.” Dana says he’ll let the NSAC take the lead.
— Fightful MMA (@FightfulMMA) October 7, 2018
Dana says the brawl had nothing to do with Conor. “You didn’t see him running and attacking Conor.” dana says there is trash talking in every sport. “It’s part of the game. That’s never going to change.” Says you can’t tell someone what they can and can’t say.
— Fightful MMA (@FightfulMMA) October 7, 2018
Dana says there’s nothing more the UFC could have done to prevent a situation like this. Says they had a ton of security and had meetings with both camps. “We went above and beyond to make sure this didn’t happen. And it happened.”
— Fightful MMA (@FightfulMMA) October 7, 2018
Dana is over this whole thing, saying he’s already answered these questions. Unsure if Khabib will be stripped of title. “If he gets suspended, we’ll see how long the suspension is.”
— Fightful MMA (@FightfulMMA) October 7, 2018
“It’s really disgusting and disappointing for me” – Dana
— Fightful MMA (@FightfulMMA) October 7, 2018
“What Khabib should have done is pick Conor up, hug him, whatever.” – Dana
— Fightful MMA (@FightfulMMA) October 7, 2018
Dana says Khabib did a lot of damage to his image. Expects Khabib’s suspension to “be ugly.” Calls it 1, 2, and 3 craziest moments of his career.
— Fightful MMA (@FightfulMMA) October 7, 2018
“We’ll see what happens” – Dana on Khabib/McGregor 2. Unsure of what he’ll do if Khabib’s visa is suspended.
— Fightful MMA (@FightfulMMA) October 7, 2018
Dana didn’t know Derrick Lewis took his shorts off. “I wish that was the craziest thing that happened tonight.”
— Fightful MMA (@FightfulMMA) October 7, 2018
“The last thing I’m going to do it put these two camps together. It’s deeper than that.” – Dana
— Fightful MMA (@FightfulMMA) October 7, 2018
Khabib up now. He begins by apologizing to the NSAC. “He talked about my religion, country, father. He came to Brooklyn and broke bus. Why people talk about my jumping on the cage?”
— Fightful MMA (@FightfulMMA) October 7, 2018
Khabib says this is a respectful sport, not a trash talking sport. “You cannot talk about religion and nation.”
— Fightful MMA (@FightfulMMA) October 7, 2018
Khabib says Putin called him and was proud of him.
— Fightful MMA (@FightfulMMA) October 7, 2018
And that’s a wrap for Khabib. Doesn’t take any questions.
— Fightful MMA (@FightfulMMA) October 7, 2018
If you missed any of the action from UFC 229, check out Fightful’s full report and tune in to the post-fight podcast for a full review.
