Conor McGregor And Floyd Mayweather Started The Dumbest Possible Road Show Today

This afternoon in Los Angeles, Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather made their first joint public appearance since announcing their superfight last month. They’ll also be holding press conferences every day for the rest of this week, because this is the deadest week of the sports calendar and they are wisely soaking up all the extra attention they can get during a time where their only competitors are the MLB All-Star Game and some bad soccer. Why not watch these two yell at each other if your only better option is the MLB celebrities vs. mascots game or whatever?

While UFC press conferences are structured as barely controlled messes where fighters are given every opportunity to talk the wildest possible shit and even throw fake-ish punches, boxing press conferences are a bit more on the boring side, and fans had to be treated to a few suit-wearing executives droning on about “premium sports and entertainment” and “promotional opportunities” and the like before the fighters got their chance to speak.

Once they did get a platform, things went about how one would expect. McGregor called Mayweather old and dumb, noted that his new custom suit has pinstripes with “FUCK YOU” emblazoned on them, and flaunted his burgeoning status as a mogul of sorts. McGregor—a man motivated by a notoriously pseudoscientific book and whose primary persona revolves around the appearance that he doesn’t give a fuck—is absolutely going to get personal with Mayweather (he once made a joke about invading Jose Aldo’s favela and murdering those not fit to be slaves), but he’s still warming up.

This circus is primarily a very lucrative stunt, but I suppose they also have to fight at some point, and McGregor predicted he’d knock Mayweather out within four rounds. This was after he did some dancing.

Mayweather spent most of his time wandering around the stage and interrupting his little sojourns to hop on the mic to tell everyone in attendance that McGregor was a bitch and he was going to beat his ass because God imbued him with boxing powers. His entourage was much larger and at one point he grabbed a (totally real and not at all a prop) $100 million check to brag about how he wasn’t actually broke, despite owing over $22 million in taxes.

All of this was followed by an incredibly long staredown that was only broken up by Dana White’s glowing face. Since they have to do this three more times over the next three days, maybe they’re saving the inevitable pushing and shoving for the grand finale. Nate Diaz is as excited as everyone else.