Conor McGregor boldly claims New York press conference ‘will be open to the public’

This is what happens when you welcome 'The Notorious' back into the fold.

Conor McGregor has defied the UFC ahead of Thursday's press conference in New York. Considering the list of his recent misdemeanours, however, this is a mere prod at the promotion. The last time Conor McGregor was at a UFC press conference in New York, he declared:

"The Irish, we built this town. Now we’re coming back to claim what’s ours."

That was in September 2016, two months out from his victory over Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205. That win saw McGregor add the lightweight belt to the featherweight strap he had won the year before in Las Vegas. Flash forward to this week and McGregor, sans belts, is back in the UFC. He has kept extremely busy since taking his MMA hiatus but he will return at UFC 229 to take on Khabib Nurmagomedov at the T-Mobile Arena on October 6. The first of two press conferences for the fight will take place in New York on Thursday [5pm local time, 10pm Irish] and the UFC had taken precautions, given the bus attack ahead of UFC 223 in April. Media companies are open to attend but the promotion were not planning on opening this one up for the public. Instead, there is a planned UFC viewing party on a 330-foot Mega-Zilla - 'the world’s largest TV screen' - on the block at Broadway between 45th and 46th streets. All well and good.... until McGregor tossed a spanner in the works with this tweet: https://twitter.com/TheNotoriousMMA/status/1042200541936459776 The Dubliner then followed that up with a double-down that will definitely raise the profile of his recently released whiskey. The ticket for entry, he stated, was a bottle of his new whiskey. He added:

'2 bottles and you skip the Q to the top. 'My soldiers will be outside making sure this rule is strictly adhered to. 'Radio City Hall. UFC 229 Press conference.'

SportsJOE understands that the press conference will not be open to the public, but McGregor's claim - retweeted 3,000+ and liked 22,000+ - could lead to some interesting scenes at Radio City Hall. We hope the local booze vendors are stocking up on McGregor's uisce beatha.