Dana White: Khabib Leaving Press Conference 'The Perfect Counter-Punch'

Well, @TeamKhabib left the press conference because Conor McGregor didn’t show up on time #UFC229 pic.twitter.com/lj7eR41N9F

— Mike Bohn (@MikeBohnMMA) October 4, 2018

The official UFC 229 pre-fight press conference took place on Thursday with much fanfare although it could be considered an anti-climax as both fighters were not present at the same time.

Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White and lightweight champ Khabib Nurmagomedov arrived on time and fielded questions from the media with Conor McGregor notoriously late.

After 15 minutes, Nurmagomedov thanked the fans for showing up and excused himself from the venue leaving White to face the media alone before McGregor finally arrived.

After the presser, White spoke on ESPN’s “SportsCenter” and provided his thoughts on last week’s press-only event compared to the public one that had just concluded. White believes McGregor got the best of his opponent last week with Nurmagomedov providing the “perfect counter-punch” at Thursday’s event.

“If you really look at what happened in New York (at the press conference), I think ConorMcGregor 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,” White added. “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.”