Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz press conference turns nasty

At one end of the sporting spectrum is the Olympic Games, at the other is UFC. The difference was neatly illustrated at a bad-tempered press conference featuring Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz ahead of UFC 202 this weekend.

There was little sign of the Olympian spirit in Las Vegas when Dana White's cage-fighting circus reclaimed some of the limelight from the Games. The two fighters postured, swore and threw bottles at each other in front of the watching media.

The press call in Las Vegas was to promote UFC 202, which takes place in the city on Saturday night and will pit the sport's errant superstar Conor McGregor against Nate Diaz, who beat him in March.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The problems began when McGregor arrived at the press conference half an hour late joking about the traffic, much to the annoyance of White and Diaz. His opponent was so put out that he then walked out, hurling insults at the Irishman who responded in kind. Before long bottles of water were being thrown as McGregor had to be restrained.

The Irishman has previously threatened to quit the sport because of what he regards as excessive fight promotion duties which he says are unfair demands on his time. However, McGregor remains the sport's biggest star and, as he proved on Wednesday, still knows how to make an entrance.

However, he may have to tread carefully. "UFC was recently sold for $4bn and the spectacle was hardly the image an organisation moving further into the mainstream may want to present," says The Guardian. "Although it will no doubt bring publicity to an event that has been overshadowed by this month's Olympics."

He also faces a tough task against Diaz in the octagon on Saturday night, as he is once again fighting at 170lb, the weight at which he lost to the American earlier in the year.

WARNING VIDEO CONTAINS STRONG LANGUAGE: