Miesha Tate isn’t having any of Conor McGregor’s excuses.
She likes the man, she admires his skill, she’s impressed by his promotional abilities. He still could’ve showed up for the UFC 200 press conference.
In her podcast, the UFC bantamweight champion revealed how she was left frustrated by Conor McGregor’s no-show and that she backs Dana White’s attitude to the situation.
“I am a fan of Conor McGregor,” Tate said. “I think he has an awesome fighting style and he markets himself so uniquely, you can’t discredit that. He does a phenomenal job, everyone loves to watch him fight and that’s myself included.
“But I think that Dana [White] is 100 per cent right in saying, ‘hey, if you’re not going to show up to do your part of the job then there’s going to be consequences.’ You can’t be the main event of one of the biggest cards of the year and not do the necessary media obligations. I disagree with him not showing up to that.
“Dana White told me that they spent like ten million dollars marketing this card. They’re way over budget but you’ve got to spend money to make money.
And Tate reckons that the solution was simple for McGregor – train on the plane.
“So he’s [Dana] putting so much money into this and Conor was going to get to fly over in a private jet and bring up to twenty people with him. I mean, how awesome first of all. And how easy. You bring your whole gym with you pretty much if you want to.
“You could probably train on the plane. It’s a private plane. Hit mitts on the plane. You know, train right when you land and then you’re in and out. They tried to make it as easy as they could on him but if you are the main event you have to do that. You’ve got to do that stuff.”
Tate explained how McGregor’s decision not to fly in for the press conference affected her. The main fighters had to film a commercial for the event but because the Dubliner was in absentia, Tate was asked to shoot an extra segment. That cut into her training time.
“If you were in my shoes and you had to miss your practice to pick up something that Conor didn’t give any notice on that he wasn’t going to be there and then they’re asking you to fill in the blank when it was his job and his responsibility and his contract to do it, I mean yeah am I allowed to be a little bit frustrated? I think so.
“I have a freakin’ mouth that I can’t control sometimes and I just say how I really feel. I’m pretty transparent. But I’m not one-sided either. That doesn’t mean I have any hard feelings towards Conor. That doesn’t mean that I hate the guy or that I’m not a fan of his, absolutely not, but I’m going to say how I feel.”
