Conor McGregor spun Khabib Nurmagomedov’s departure from yesterday’s press conference as an indication the champ’s terrified of what’s about to happen at UFC 229. But, UFC boss man Dana White had a completely different take.

The UFC held another press conference yesterday, in advance of the highly anticipated bout, between Nurmagomedov and McGregor on Saturday. But, the two never shared the same stage. McGregor wasn’t there when the presser began, and right out of the gate, Khabib made it clear he wasn’t going to wait around for his rival. Nurmagomedov answered some questions, and after about 15 minutes or so, he left. Finally, around 30 minutes after the presser started, McGregor showed up, and he proceeded to argue that Khabib had left because he was “petrified”.

Well, not only did White not protest Khabib’s decision to not wait around for Conor, the UFC President offered this take while speaking with ESPN (quote via MMA Junkie):

“If you really look at what happened in New York (at the press conference), I think Conor McGregor absolutely got in his head, got in his manager’s head, rattled and shook them all in New York,” White said. “I thought today was the perfect counter-punch by Khabib. Khabib went out there at 3 o’clock, said, ‘I’m a professional, I’m here, I’m here to answer questions, and then I’m going to leave.’ I thought it was played perfectly by Khabib.”

“It was a little awkward and little weird for us to run the press conference today,” White said. “But you’ve got to remember, these are all mind games that are leading up into tomorrow. Both guys have to cut weight tonight, and the real staredown is tomorrow at the weigh-ins.”

Now, chances are Khabib’s departure didn’t faze McGregor; in fact, he may truly believe it was a sign of intimidation etc. But, from Khabib’s perspective, you can definitely understand why he decided to leave. After all, as White noted, he showed up, on time, so why should he wait around for McGregor? Who has a pattern of showing up late?

Nurmagomedov was in the midst of the final hours of his weight cut, which was visible on his face, so, he really had nothing to gain by sticking around, and just getting agitated further by McGregor’s antics and his boisterous fans.

It will be fascinating to see what goes down at today’s ceremonial weigh-ins. Here’s hoping Khabib makes weight (knock on wood).

UFC 229 will be hosted by the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

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