Thursday night was not the first time Conor McGregor grabbed a belt that wasn't his.
On the Dublin leg of the never-ending publicity tour for his originally scheduled bout with Jose Aldo, McGregor sent the Convention Centre into raptures when he snatched the then UFC featherweight champion's strap.
On Thursday night in New York
he repeated the trick, taking Eddie Alvarez's lightweight belt, provoking the American to throw a chair in the direction of McGregor.
'The Notorious' retaliated by lifting a folding chair over his head as if he was about to hurl it at his UFC 205 opponent. So far,
so UFC 202. However this press conference carried on without further incident, until the pair went on New Zealand television for an interview with Andrew Mulligan.
https://twitter.com/Andrew_Mulligan/status/796840542252302336
The host of 'The Crowd Goes Wild' asked McGregor and Alvarez about the chair incident, hinting that it might have been choreographed.
The question was batted away and the interview ended, however McGregor made his feelings clear on the line of questioning, not realising his microphone was still on.
"He's a fucking donkey," the Dubliner said of Mulligan. 'Some sort of shite about 'scripted' or something, he said."
McGregor continued, not knowing his complaints could be heard by Mulligan: "He has a mad mush head on him, he looks like a burns victim or something."
https://twitter.com/SandhuMMA/status/796959219945762816
The whole thing is an awkward watch as Mulligan reacts to the insults, but McGregor's anger at the suggestion does raise questions about his UFC press conferences, which have become more and more outrageous as his fame grows.
Is the acrimony always real or does the featherweight champion ramp it all up in the name of hype?
There is no question the crowd in the Big Apple lapped it all up, but does such a big fight on such an historic card require this sort of promotion?
