Alvarez: ‘You’re a fool if you don’t think Conor can put Floyd away’
Alvarez says not to underestimate McGregor.
I think a lot of boxing fans are looking at Conor as if he’s never, ever boxed. Even the way they’re talking seems that they’re writing him off like he never boxed. He boxed, he understands boxing. I just think his chance is going to happen within the first four rounds. And Conor can. I think you’re a fool if you don’t think Conor can put Floyd away. I think he can. I think he can land a punch and put Floyd away…I think if it goes past the fourth round and gets in the fifth, sixth, seventh where it can become a technical boxing match, I think it could look look one sided. Floyd’s the king of that, he’s the king of swimming and not getting wet. He can punch and not get hit. So I think if it goes further past five, six, seven, eight he could win by TKO. But I think before that time, that’s where Conor’s time is — in the first four rounds.
https://www.facebook.com/UFCCanada/videos/1572784052743232/
Alvarez wishes McGregor best of luck as a new father
Alvarez, a father of four, wishes McGregor the best of luck as a new father.
Oh man. Oh man. I got no advice, man. He is doing quite well, man. I think he is going to do a good job. If he puts 10% of the effort into his child as he does fighting, I think he is going to do damn good. So I wish him the best of luck. [Fatherhood] is very terrifying. You are just not sure how you’re going to do. There is no real book for it, you just got to do it and hope that you’re the right person to be a Dad. I’ve been a champion, I’ve been a lot of things, I’ve had no better success…nothing better in my life than being a Dad. That’s my biggest success I’ve had so far.
Kavanagh explains McGregor holding hands behind back
Coach Kavanagh says McGregor was holding his hands behind his back during his UFC 205 fight with Alvarez due to an injury. He says McGregor’s right index knuckle was hurt during his UFC 202 fight with Nate Diaz, and that was his way of protecting it in training, and also has the added advantage of fooling his opponent into trying to hit his head.
He found that if he actually held his right hand behind his back, it kind of reminded him not to throw it as much. That’s why he started reaching back and actually grabbing his hand. It was almost like a mental note: take care of the right hand…If you put your hands down, an untrained person will try to swing at your head. It’s a base instinct — I want to punch the guy in the head. If you have a very high level of striking, boxing like Conor does, you understand rules like that. I don’t think others are kind of catching up to that level of skill.
McGregor ‘controls the fight, hurts people’
Referee McCarthy talks about McGregor’s performance in UFC 205.
Conor McGregor, whether you like him or don’t like him, the man can fight. He is so calm at what he’s doing. He controls the fight. Eddie probably did not fight the right fight for him against someone like Conor. I think he kinda got drawn into the whole thing of ‘I wanna beat you up’. I know what the guy has got. Everyone always wants to sit there and doubt someone [but] Conor McGregor has proved… the guy has got talent and he’s got power. His left hand, he hurts people all the time. They only guy who has stayed up with that left hand – but was multiple times knocked down – was Nate Diaz, and who knocks Nate Diaz out?
Explains thinking during McGregor fight
Alvarez talks in detail about his thought process during his UFC 205 bout with McGregor.
What bugs me about the whole thing is that he didn’t do anything that we didn’t prepare for and I have no one to blame but myself about it and that’s what f-cks me up about it and gets me angry. It would be easier if I could go back to my coach and say ‘You son of a bitch, you messed up and you didn’t tell me this was going to happen’. We literally got ready for all of this and I guess there’s a difference between knowing and doing. We knew but I simply didn’t execute…The whole plan, the plan of this fight, if we had to sum it up. It was go left and mostly wrestle. Not wrestle all the time but put him in wrestling exchanges and put him where he’s uncomfortable. But I don’t know if it was after I got hit that I went into fight-or-flight mode, but I got hit and I went right and I boxed. I did the opposite of my plan…It was the best time I’d ever had on fight week. Honestly, before we went out even my coach Mark Henry, our warmups in the locker room just before we went out to make the walk were probably the best I’ve ever looked. I was confident. When I try to make sense of this whole damn thing, it’s really awkward to sit back and think about. I don’t understand what went on.
McGregor ‘can figure out Mayweather’
Alvarez’s coach says McGregor could beat Mayweather.
You cannot teach somebody how to hit like that. It takes a certain shoulder, it takes a flick of the wrist, it’s all many tiny mechanics, like what it takes to make an eyeball work. It’s the same thing to make the perfect swing. Like Babe Ruth, I just compare Conor to Babe Ruth man, his swing — we watched tape of it — but to be that close to it was a whole other thing. It comes along once in a lifetime, or once every hundred years, and I think God has just blessed him with a swing that, I know I’ll never see again. Before this fight, I would highly doubt him fighting Mayweather, but man I think this dude can figure out Mayweather. I don’t know if it went [long], but I could easily see him knocking anybody man. Like I said, it’s a Babe Ruth swing, there’s so many things you need to make it work. That four punch combination he used to finish off Eddie, he knew where his head was going to be on all four moves, he knows ahead of time where you’re going to be. What he does is just incredible.
https://soundcloud.com/siriusxmrush/mark-henry-conor-mcgregor-is-a-once-in-a-lifetime-fighter-can-defeat-floyd-mayweather
‘I f-cking blew it’
Alvarez releases a statement on Instagram.
The only thing I can honestly say was I f-cking blew it … I did nothing I trained , I did the complete opposite of what we planned on a daily basis for 10 weeks.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BM1eoO5g7Qu/
Backstage interview
UFC releases an interview of Alvarez backstage at UFC 205 after his defeat by McGregor.
It was very loud in there. It was hard for me to hear my corner. I heard a couple of things but it was hard to hear and communicate with my coaches. [More than his power] it was speed…The first time I was dropped. I remember being on my butt and thinking, ‘Wow that was fast’. I’ve been there before. I pretty much get my composure and get back up. The speed and timing were very good. You can tell he’s got years of boxing behind him…It was foolish [to not wrestle]. That was not my intention going into that fight. It was stupid and I paid for it..I’ll never define myself by a win, or by a loss…[Conor’s achievement] is incredible. He did a great job. My hat’s off to him and he continues to do a great job for the sport of MMA. [After this] I’m going to go and see my wife an kids and hang out.
https://www.facebook.com/UFCUnitedKingdom/videos/1158461324189816/
Responds to Alvarez
Diaz responds in video to Alvarez comment that “everybody in the lightweight division has beat Nate,” reminding him that Diaz has previously defeated cowboy Cerrone and Conor McGregor, two men who in turn beat Alvarez.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BMuKbq6B8DB/
Post-fight interview
McGregor is interviewed by Olivi, talking about his win at UFC 205 over Alvarez.
I feel good. I said it and I did it. I knew it was going to be tough. He took some shots but kept coming. But you can’t keep taking them shots against me. I’m too precise…I knew I had hurt him and I was thinking ‘How many smacks could he take?’ I know it’s probably a rough one for him and his team…Nothing for respect for him. It doesn’t take me long Megan, one shot and you’re on a losing battle then.
What’s next:
I’m about to be a daddy early next year. I’m freaking out. I don’t know what I’m doing, but we’ll see. I’ve got all the cards now so someone has to come present something really sweet to keep me sweet, because I keep proving what I’m saying. I am the reason the company was sold for $4.2 billion, that’s not the word of a lie….I’ve got 40 big announcements in my mind. I’m about to be a daddy, so that’s a big enough announcement for now.
Open to 170:
I’m open for it. We’ll see. Let’s talk.
Post-fight interview
Alvarez is interviewed by Olivi, talking about his defeat at UFC 205 by McGregor.
[I’m] disappointed. I didn’t fight a good fight. I went in there with a plan. I didn’t stick to the plan and I paid for it. [The plan] was more to kick and wrestle…I almost got lulled into his pace and got out of my own pace. He did a good job, hats off to him.
After the first drop:
The shot he hit me with. I don’t remember it really. I just remember being on the floor…I don’t feel like he hurt me like crazy. Kind of a flash. He just boxed too much. Too much boxing.
Post-fight press conference
McGregor and Alvarez will appear at a post-fight press conference live shortly.
Post-fight interview
Directly after being declared the winner McGregor asks about his belts.
Where the f-ck is my second belt? I’ve already got this one. Where’s the second one at? Cheap motherf-ckers. $4.2 billion this company was sold for. Where’s that second belt. Go backstage and grab that f-cking belt somewhere.
He then talks to Rogan about his win over Alvarez.
They’re not on my level. You’ve got to have size, reach, length. If you come in any way equal to me I’m going to rip your whole head off. Eddie’s a warrior, but he shouldn’t have been in here with me and that’s just the truth of it.
ESPN Sportscenter interview
Alvarez and McGregor appear on ESPN Sportscenter to talk about UFC 205. On the mink coat, Alvarez:
I seen the tags hanging from it. You rented it.
McGregor:
It cost more than your show money…I’m just cosy here listening to this (sic) dribble…look at your face, you’re a bum Eddie.
Alvarez unhappy with McGregor late show
Alvarez and McGregor are interviewed by Whitlock. On McGregor being late to the conference:
This is a business. It’s important to be on time. It’s the same thing on the night of the fight. What if he goes in the cage and I sit in the back? If I sit in the back, he has no opponent. There’s no reason for him to be inside that cage.
McGregor:
I’ll chill in there. Sweet. I’ll enjoy the crowd.
McGregor’s a ‘scrawny, skinny Irishman who’s about to get a beatdown’
Alvarez is interviewed by UFC Tonight.
We’re about to do something special in about three days…this is just another day for me, and another opponent…I see a scrawny, skinny Irishman who’s about to get a beatdown…Most of Conor’s talk is self talk. It’s him trying to convince himself that he can do those things.
Eddie Alvarez: Conor McGregor is a scrawny Irishman who's about to get a beat down, pic.twitter.com/m7Fht7KVPW
— UFC Tonight (@UFCTonight) November 10, 2016
UFC 205 Face Off
McGregor and Alvarez face off at the UFC pre-fight press conference.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BMpMXHqDgHy/
‘I’m a pimp’
McGregor talks about his white fur jacket.
I’m a pimp!…[This is] Gucci mink. This is what confidence looks like. This is what big Irish balls look like.
On his legacy:
I’ll be immortalised after this one.
After Alvarez asks for an apology;
Suck these big Irish balls!
On Alvarez:
He’s damaged goods.
Alvarez throws chair at McGregor
After Alvarez leaves McGregor comes to the stage in a white fur coat. He takes Alvarez’s belt. Alvarez emerges and takes it back and throws a chair at McGregor. McGregor tries to throw a chair at him, and gets restrained by White.
Here's the segment in full where Conor McGregor was very close to throwing a steel chair at Eddie Alvarez had it not been for Dana White. pic.twitter.com/ip5GbHTw5B
— Chamatkar Sandhu (@SandhuMMA) November 10, 2016
Alvarez walks out after McGregor no show
Alvarez walks out of UFC 205 press conference after McGregor doesn’t show.
I’m disappointed in the country of Ireland right now that this is your representative….I don’t even have an opponent. Yo, when he comes, you give me a call.