ウィスパリング同時通訳研究会コミュのUFC 257: Pre-fight Press Conference

4:55
Dana White: (01:50)
What’s up Abu Dhabi, how are you guys? Thanks for coming out today, we appreciate it. Who’s got the first question?

Audience Member 1: (01:59)
Conor, I’d like to start with you. Welcome back, of course, first things first. I mean, this entire pandemic. I think we’ve wondered. What would a Conor McGregor fight be like with no crowd, and now it’s limited crowd. So now that you’re kind of in the building, you’re getting a sense for what the atmosphere is like. And we think about you, the bright lights are on the big crowds. That’s when you perform, how does that affect your energy, your focus on fight night?

Conor McGregor: (02:20)
I tell you what it feels pretty good right now. You know the crowd here. I know it’s a small crowd, but it feels good, so I’m very happy to be here.

Audience Member 1: (02:31)
Fair enough. But of course, as you said, this is a big fight, you know, pay-per-view headliner, but it’s interesting. I mean, you have a victory over Dustin. There may be the title fight on the line, maybe there’s not, we don’t really know. So what provided kind of your daily motivation? I mean, you know, that extra practice, that extra grind that you might not want to go to. What, was providing that for you?

Conor McGregor: (02:48)
My love for the game, my love for competition, my love for combat, and, you know, Dustin has put on an incredible run since our last fight. It’s been a long time coming. Yes, I did get a over him the first time, but you know, he’s rose right up and he’s back up there at the top of the division. So I’m excited to go on and compete with him again.

Audience Member 1: (03:07)
Fair enough. And you went out there and kind of made a pretty bold prediction. You said you think you can get it done in 60 seconds. You know, I know you have a lot of respect for him. But I wonder, that puts a lot of pressure on you, right? I mean, you win in the second round or you got shot decision. Maybe it was a letdown. So any regrets in making that prediction, do you stand by it?

Conor McGregor: (03:23)
You know, well, I got him out of there in 90 seconds the first time. So I mean, I’m not that far off, but you know, I just started complete confidence in my preparation and in my abilities, I know Dustin’s a hell of a competitor. I know there’s questions here. He’s heavier and he’s up on it. He’s up on a different weight, but he’s more experienced. I feel I can do it. However, you know, there are question marks regarding conditioning and things like that. I know his team has been spouting about the condition and on that I have put in a lot of work to get myself correctly to the 155 pound frame. I got 40 seconds inside the octagon in 2020, which caused major frustration in my, you know, it’s not enough. I need more. So I’m going to go in there and I believe, I believe I can get him out there and possibly we’ll hit him early and hurt him. But, you know, I, I hope for, for a good long, a good long bell.

Audience Member 1: (04:15)
Last thing for me, Conor, I mean, it’s kind of a, I think probably no coincidence in the timing, but you were named in a lawsuit this week. I just wonder if you have any comments on that and if that’s affecting your focus and I think that’s a lot on your shoulders ahead of a big fight like this,

Conor McGregor: (04:28)
You know, it’s all news. It’s been, it was investigated totally over the course of two long years and I was cleared of any wrongdoing and, and that’s it, you know, so much positivity in my life. I’ve got a great challenge ahead of me on Saturday, on Saturday night. And I’m very excited to get in. I put in an immense amount of work to get my frame correct at 155 to get my conditioning. You know, I want to answer questions here and I hope, I hope, I hope those things can bring it to me and we can, we can have a good fight.

Audience Member 1: (05:00)
Thank you, Conor. For Dustin, I wanted to ask you, I mean, you fought this year in the apex put on a fight of the year type candidate, right? Does that provide any, any benefit? I mean, this atmosphere is unique. It’s different, right? I mean, does that give you any kind of an edge once you go in there or is an octagon, an octagon?

Dustin Poirier: (05:17)
An octagon is an octagon. It’s good. It’s actually good to see us moving in this direction and fans coming back as well as the direction. We need to be opening things up as safe as we can in the UFC and Abu Dhabi here are doing that. So I’m excited to put on a show for these guys
Audience Member 1: (05:30) Yeah.

Audience Member 1: (05:32)
And Dustin, I know that you’ve , you know, committed your life to this game, right? Sacrifice everything. You never had a a hundred million dollar boxing match. You know what I mean? You know, you don’t have a whiskey brand, this distributed around the world. I know you like the saying 25 minutes to make life fair. Does that apply? I mean, do you feel like there’s a chip on your shoulder? I mean, you guys have had this kind of parallel life, but it’s gone different. You walk in there a little chip on your shoulder?

Dustin Poirier: (05:51)
Every fight is a chip on my shoulder. I’m trying to prove something. I’m trying to show the work that I’ve put in. I’m trying to make it pay off. I’m trying to put my family in a better position and this is no different. I know what a win over Conor McGregor means in combat sports. And I know that whoever wins this fight is fighting for gold. And that’s why I fight.

Audience Member 1: (06:08)
Fair enough. Thank you, Dustin. Just one last one for Dana. Please, Dana obviously this is a massive Pay-Per-View.

Conor McGregor: (06:12)
Can I, sorry you’ve got the hot sauce, Dustin. I’m actually very, I want to, I’d love to taste the hot sauce.
Dustin Poirier: (06:18) I’ve got a bottle for you.

Conor McGregor: (06:18)
I appreciate that. I’ve got a bottle of Proper for you. I love to share that. That’s so, you know what I mean? He’s putting in the work. I’ve been highly impressed. I think the whole business has been highly impressed. After that last many, many years ago, he rose up became champion. He’s given so much back. I’m honored to share this octagon with this man. I know we have this competitive fire and it’s still there. There’s still that, you know, there is no denying that we, we have a clash and it’s going to be a good firework field bell. And, but the respect is admirable for this man from me.

Dustin Poirier: (06:50)
I don’t want to make it seem like we’re up here giving each other back massages, but Conor’s, I just want to clear the air, Conor’s team, McGregor sports entertainment, did reach out to my foundation and they are, you know, starting the donation to the good fight foundation. And we have huge, huge plans for that. So Connor, man to man.

Conor McGregor: (07:06) My Pleasure, buddy, my pleasure.Thank you.
Dustin Poirier: (07:07) You’re going to help a lot of people with that.
Conor McGregor: (07:07) Yes, yes and you, you.
Audience Member 1: (07:07) Maybe you can help them with a distribution deal for the hot sauce.
Conor McGregor: (07:12)
Of course, of course. No problem. I got to taste it first though. You know, I don’t put my name to something unless it’s the proper, you know what I mean? Unless it’s the finest.
Dustin Poirier: (07:21) I got you. You’ll taste it Sunday morning, then I’ll give you a bottle after. Yeah?
Conor McGregor: (07:25) That’s perfect.

Audience Member 1: (07:28)
Dana, I just want to ask you, like I said to me, this is a huge pay-per-view event to kick off the year. You kind of stirred the pot a little bit with the, the piracy, the online streamers. They want to come after you and give this thing away. So, any regret? Any regret?

Dana White: (07:40)
No, no, no, no, no. I’m glad you asked me about that because we got one. We got him, we’re watching this guy right now. All you have to do is turn it on on Saturday and we got you, fucker. I can’t wait. Turn it on on Saturday, streamers, and see what happens. Thank you for asking me that question. Pipe down. Who’s next?

Audience Member 2: (08:12)
A question for Michael over here. Welcome to the UFC, this is your first real big press conference in your new home. I don’t think anyone for years thought you would be here. So what are your first impressions of the UFC fans now at this press conference?

Michael Chandler: (08:25)
Ah, this is great, man. Thank you. I appreciate it. It’s awesome to be kind of a historic night, 10 months of not having any fans during a worldwide pandemic. It’s nice to share this opportunity with the fans, man. It’s been a, it’s been a long time coming and there was, there was moments where I wasn’t sure if I would ever make that jump cut to come over. The circumstances needed to be right. It needed to feel right. A couple months ago, having that conversation with Dana, it felt this is where my new home needed to be and everything has been wonderful thus far and I’m excited to go out there and start this new chapter, got a blank page, on Friday, on Saturday night to start this new chapter in my career. And I’m excited to get out there and compete.

Audience Member 2: (09:07)
And I know you’re not looking past Dan, but you had said in the media day, you were looking forward to at least sizing up Connor being around him, seeing what he’s about. So have you seen him in the hotel and if you haven’t, what do you think now?

Michael Chandler: (09:18)
No, I have not. No, this is just the first time I saw him, man. He’s a, he’s looking dapper as always Conor McGregor, typical Connor fashion, but you know, this is, I’ve been outside of the UFC and I told Dana this in our conversation every single time that I trained for one of the guys that I stepped inside of the cage with, I wasn’t training to fight them, I was training to fight the number one guy in the world. The number one guy in the world has always been under the UFC banner. I was always training to fight, to beat that guy. So sizing everybody up, you know, last time I was here on Fight Island saw Khabib saw Gaethje, these are, these are the, these are the, the upper echelon, the world-class guys that I’ve wanted to compete against since day one. And now I get that opportunity. Just got to go out there and take care of business on Saturday night.
(10:02) That opportunity, just got to go out there and take care of business on Saturday night.

Audience Member 2: (10:03)
And question for Dan. A lot to make with Michael’s wrestling credentials, you of course have a very extensial striking background. So what do you make of Michael Chandler’s striking inside the octagon?

Dan Hooker: (10:15)
He’s aggressive. The guy comes out and he’s a fast starter, so I’m expecting by the end of that first five minutes. We’re going to know how this thing’s going to play out. I’m expecting him to come at me. I’m expecting a fast start, but I’m not one to back down to a challenge.

Audience Member 2: (10:33)
And then question for Conor, Max Holloway declared himself the best boxer in MMA. You kind of laughed at that on Twitter. So I’m wondering, how would you rate the three gentlemen up here boxing compared to yours?

Conor McGregor: (10:44)
I’ll tell you what, the last press conference I’d done with [Toronie 00:10:49] it was just myself and Dona up here. This time we’ve got three other men, four of us and we’re all in the same division. So there are opponents, potential future opponents and I’m very excited about that. That’s kind of what halted me in 2020, before the pandemic even hit, it was like nothing really presented itself. Well, here, we’ve got three up here. We’ve got Max skateboarding in the hallway, back at the hotel, so I’m very happy with that. I’m very excited to see how the bout goes in the coming event. I know the two men know the magnitude of where they are at and I’m excited, that’s going to breathe an exciting fight. You know what I mean? It’s going to be a lot of power thrown I hope. I would tell the two lads, if there is any stalling or any situation like that, to be separating and let the shots fly because there’s a lot at stake here. And I wish both men, the best of luck.

Audience Member 2: (11:45)
And then question for all four gentlemen up there, a unique situation four dads fighting on Saturday in the main up coming event. So are your kids aware of what’s going down on Saturday? Are you going to let them watch? I know Conor has Conor Jr and his kids here, but are you going to let your kids watch on Saturday night?

Conor McGregor: (12:03) Sorry, say that again, was that to me?
Audience Member 2: (12:05) It’s for all four. Are all four gentleman’s kids going to watch the fight on Saturday?
(12:09)
My kids will watch them, after having them [inaudible 00:12:12] for a week and giving them the experience, they are a little young though. I don’t think I’ll have them in the arena for the actual bout, but there’ll be watching their daddy for sure. And I look forward to going back after the fight.

Michael Chandler: (12:25)
I know my son will be sleeping, but he knows daddy does MMA. He knows what MMA is and we’ll go watch the masterpiece after the fight when I get home and get to spend time with him.

Dustin Poirier: (12:36)
And my daughter knows what I do obviously, but we don’t really let her watch. She helps me take the stitches out when I get back, she knows What’s going on.
Dan Hooker: (12:46) Yeah. My daughter will be swinging along with me. She’ll be there.
Dana White: (12:54) Whose got the next question.

Audience Member 2: (12:55)
One more for you, Dana right here. Habib did an interview yesterday saying, “He still doesn’t want to make his mom upset by returning.” Have you seen that interview and have you spoken to him again since your initial conversation?

Dana White: (13:06) I told you guys, we’ll see what happens this week.
Conor McGregor: (13:10) We’ll get him. We’ll get him.
Speaker 1: (13:17)
Hey, Conor, out of the available lightweights to you right now is Dustin the hardest challenge you could be facing?

Conor McGregor: (13:25)
I think so, yeah. You know what, I’ll always go. I’ll always look to get the highest challenge. Dustin here has a win over Hooker, who is on stage here. He has a win, he knocked out Justin. So there’s some high contenders already. And Justin and Tony knocked out Tony, who was another contender. So I think I’m right at the top here. I would make the case, if that man is continuing to dodge this and dodge the commitment of competing again, the title should be stripped and we should be engaging in a title fight. But I’m sure it will happen after this bout. I’m interested to hear what the excuses are, what will be said after the fight. But I predict a title strip.

Speaker 1: (14:08)
Going off prediction. You said, “It’s going to take 60 seconds to beat Dustin.” It might go longer. But do you have the shot in mind already that you want to finish in with? Or is that something that presents itself in the fight?

Conor McGregor: (14:18)
I have a million shots. I’ve so many weapons in my arsenal and they’re all fine tuned at this time. I’m in a phenomenal place. And I look forward to getting out and showcasing, painting my picture and putting on a beautiful performance for the fans around the world.

Speaker 1: (14:33)
And for you Michael, we know your story that you’ve just come into the UFC, but now you’re up there on a press conference stage. Has it set in yet that you’re making a UFC debut?

Michael Chandler: (14:44)
Yeah, it has. I think the day that I signed on the dotted line, it started to sink in. I mean, I’ve been competing at a high level since I was 14 years old and all roads have led to this. There seemed like there have been roadblocks at times, but daily, I have thought about it. I visualize it. I’ve seen it. I’ve I’ve been watching these guys compete for a long time and I’ve wanted to share the octagon with them so it’s… The last trip here to fight island, a lot of people thought it was kind of an interesting decision. I wanted to be the guy that said yes, when a lot of guys said no. So I stepped up, I said, yes.
(15:17)
And I reaped a lot of reward from that. Now all the familiar faces that I’m going to be rubbing elbows with, coworkers in my tenure here in the UFC. Now they’re all familiar faces and it’s all going well, thus far. Weight’s on point and here we are getting ready to step into… Not just stepping in the octagon, but stepping into a co-main event slot on a huge pay-per-view, a historic night. As these guys have said, this is a big, big opportunity for all of us. And we’re going to go out there and we’re going to go put on a great show.

Audience Member 2: (15:52)
And for Dustin, there is an element of charity to this fight. You just mentioned that with the donation to your foundation, how important do you believe it is that a fighter at the top tier pays it back and pays it forward and uses their platform to help others who don’t have one?

Dustin Poirier: (16:08)
I believe it’s important for a man, as he matures to recognize the situation and position he’s in and that he put himself in. And I just… To each his own, I’m not saying everybody should do it, but if you have it in your heart and you’re in position to be a voice for people whose voices aren’t heard or to be a representative of something better. It transcends fighting and we’re all fighting something. So it means a lot to me personally, I can’t speak for anyone else.

Audience Member 2: (16:35) And for Dan, do you believe your style is the worst matchup Chandler could be facing on his debut?

Dan Hooker: (16:44)
It’s not a good style, I bet if he could have picked anyone else it wouldn’t have been me, a long, tall guy. My games’ built around defending wrestlers. The only reason I’m here is because [inaudible 00:06:55], he turned the fight down. They didn’t want to take the risk. They don’t want to risk their spot, they come up with a bunch of excuses, old Charlie olives saying, “He can’t make the weight.” Danny, do you believe Charlie olives can’t make the weight. I go, “A broomsticks’ thicker than that boy.” I’m here, I’m taking the risk. That means that I reaped the reward.

Audience Member 2: (17:17)
Nice. And last one for Dana. Do we have an update on numbers for this card? You’ve got the return of Conor McGregor, we’ve got some fans back, but pay-per-view wise, how is this thing trending?

Dana White: (17:26)
Very good, yeah. No. This thing’s trending great. Yeah, it’s good. It’s going to be good. There hasn’t been… When was there a bad one? Since the pandemic started, there hasn’t been a bad pay-per-view they’ve all been over-performing, so you can only imagine what this is going to do.
Audience Member 2: (17:42) Okay.