Nate Diaz, Conor McGregor have minor dust-up at MGM Grand

By Case Keefer (contact)

Published Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016 | 2:33 p.m.

Updated Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016 | 4:29 p.m.

Water bottles and coffee cups replaced punches and kicks in the first fight of the week between Nate Diaz and Conor McGregor.

The headliners of UFC 202, which goes down Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena, and their camps got into an altercation at a news conference today at the David Copperfield Theater inside the MGM Grand. McGregor showed up 28 minutes late to the final dual media appearance before the fight and spoke for only three minutes before Diaz stormed out.

“Come out here and get your (expletive) ass whooped with your whole team,” Diaz yelled.

McGregor responded, “Shut your (expletive) mouth. You’ll do nothing.”

Diaz, with roughly 15 associates, including UFC veterans Nick Diaz, Gilbert Melendez and Jake Shields, behind him, then launched a half-full water bottle into a group of about 25 McGregor teammates. Despite protests from UFC President Dana White, McGregor quickly retaliated by throwing bottles and cans from the stage while the teams of both fighters engaged in the same activity.

Security personnel held back the camps and blocked a staircase to prevent them from rushing each other. They eventually escorted Diaz’s crew to the casino floor, as White defused the situation by ending the event early.

“Sorry guys,” White offered. “See you Saturday.”

Diaz defeated McGregor by second-round submission at UFC 196 in March after several hostile interactions between the two in the eight days before the short-notice bout. Everything was tamer ever since the UFC announced the immediate rematch for UFC 202.

But tension was palpable from the start on Wednesday — and not just between Diaz and McGregor. White started the press conference 10 minutes past schedule without McGregor.

While Diaz smirked and called McGregor’s absence, “rude,” White was more noticeably perturbed with the featherweight champion again exercising his habitual tardiness.

“He has to start respecting people’s time — yours, theirs, mine, David Copperfield’s, everybody’s,” White said. “We only have so much time in this room.”

White’s demeanor didn’t improve when McGregor arrived. White’s face reddened as he turned his head and gulped from a water bottle when McGregor said he wasn’t disappointed for not making it on time and laughed off the situation.

“Vegas traffic is heavy as well this time of the year,” he said. “There must be a McGregor show going on because the place is packed out.”

White announced that, win or lose against Diaz, McGregor must drop back down to defend his featherweight belt in his next bout or vacate the title. Like forcing McGregor off of UFC 200 for failing to partake in media obligations, many see the maneuver as a way for the UFC to strong-arm its biggest star and cut into his power.

Diaz had a different interpretation.

“They trying to make an escape route,” Diaz said.

Those would be Diaz’s last words in front of a microphone Wednesday. He departed right afterwards, as McGregor explained that he planned to fight Diaz for a third time at some point but not immediately.

Diaz interrupted the answer by cursing at McGregor and challenging his teammates on his way out. It didn’t take long for the bottles to start flying after that.

Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.