Fashionably Late Conor McGregor Cuts Major BKFC Promo: ‘Turn Your Knuckles to Knives'

Thought to be a no-show for a second, UFC superstar and BKFC part-owner Conor McGregor ended the Knuckle Mania V press conference on the highest note possible.
McGregor's Message To This Weekend's BKFC Stars
Thursday's press conference in Philadelphia ran an hour late, and so did McGregor, but "The Notorious" didn't miss out on all of the fun, delivering quite the speech to the assembled fighters competing on Saturday night.
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"Oh Philly! Sorry I'm late, I just don't give a f***," McGregor referenced one of his iconic lines from the UFC 205 press conference in 2016, sharing the stage with Eddie Alvarez and Jeremy Stephens once again ahead of their BKFC main event.
"I'm here to summon the gods of fighting to action. Knuckles to knives. On Saturday night, may we all bleed in the honor of Philadelphia's rich fighting history. May we as an organization, the alien of combat sports, rise above the night sky and reign down blows victoriously and prove our worth against any deniers."
Conor McGregor showed up at the BKFC presser! #KM5 @UFCKnockout pic.twitter.com/5PSiCTlwFa
— Christopher De Santiago (@Chris_DSantiago) January 23, 2025
McGregor On The Main Event
McGregor has a history with both headliners Eddie Alvarez and Jeremy Stephens, mocking Stephens at the UFC 205 press conference, McGregor replying "Who the f*** is that guy?" whenever he was unexpectedly interrupted.
The UFC's first-ever simultaneous two-division champion, McGregor accomplished the feat with a flawless second-round knockout of then-champ Alvarez at UFC 205, one of the greatest performances in MMA history.
#OnThisDay in 2016: @TheNotoriousMMA made history to become Champ Champ! 🏆🏆
— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) November 12, 2020
📺 Watch again on @UFCFightPass now! pic.twitter.com/rek1GS9bNx
Nearly a decade later, McGregor would weigh in on the magnitude of Alvarez vs. Stephens, the former UFC fighters meeting at 165lbs for their third bare-knuckle fight.
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"My local boy, former UFC lightweight vhampion and former Bellator world champion shut this man up over here, Jeremy Stephens," McGregor said of Alvarez. "He's coming in here to Philadelphia on this great sporting weekend to try to take you out, Eddie. This as big as a fight as it gets."
"Combatants, turn your knuckles to knives. Bleed for Philadelphia's rich fighting history and show the people what Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship is all about."
Conor McGregor also gave a shoutout to BKFC President and Philly-native David Feldman before facing off Alvarez, Stephens and more stars of KnuckleMania V.
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