UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor brought in former two-division world boxing champion Paulie Malignaggi in to help him prepare for Floyd Mayweather. After two sparring sessions, Malignaggi quit the camp in a huff after an image was posted that looked like McGregor might have knocked him down; the boxer found the post unforgivably misleading. After video of the exchange was released, it looked like McGregor might have knocked him down.
Now Malignaggi appears to be angling to be McGregor’s next opponent in the ring, and he borrowed from the WWE in an attempt to hype it. Dressed like a WalMart greeter, Malignaggi tried to get in McGregor’s face at the official arrivals for Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather. The boxer repeatedly shouted for Notorious to, “Bring your balls.”
Okay.
Afterward, Malignaggi tried to explain himself to Ariel Helwani. The boxer said he was trying to get the attention of McGregor’s manager Audie Attar.
“I wasn’t sure what he was saying, I was trying to get Audie’s attention,” said Malignaggi, as transcribed by Ryan Harkness for MMA Mania. “I was trying to talk to Audie. Audie was saying ‘You talked out of your contract.’ I said ‘You know I didn’t talk out of my contract.’ You guys posted pictures, you forced me to defend myself.”
“I didn’t talk anything until you guys posted pictures. Pictures were what all started the talking. So nobody talked out of the contract. You guys posted the pictures first. If there were no pictures posted, I wouldn’t have needed to talk. I don’t need to go find reporters to talk to. I don’t need to talk to the media.”
“I don’t know what Conor did because I was trying to talk to Audie. Conor was probably saying typical s***, like, ‘You got your ass whipped.’ So I rewinded him, ‘Did you bring your balls this week?’ Because usually you forgot them against Diaz, you tend to forget them when s*** gets tough. Make sure you brought his balls Saturday, he’s going to need them Saturday. Make sure he doesn’t forget them in Ireland, in the training camp house.”
“You gotta bring them Saturday. You gotta pack your gloves, you gotta pack your shoes, you gotta pack your cup, and you gotta pack your balls, too. He tends to forget those.”
