Former UFC double champion Conor McGregor took to the stage (late) last in Philadelphia to ‘summon the fighting Gods’ ahead of BKFC: Knucklemania 5.
The event, which goes down in Philadelphia on Saturday, is headlined by two of Notorious’ most infamous UFC rivals – former champion Eddie Alvarez, and MMA veteran Jeremy Stephens.
It’s no secret that the Irishman would much rather ‘The Underground King’ win tomorrow’s BKFC title eliminator, but was ‘summoning the Gods’ really necessary?
Conor McGregor just showed up late to the BKFC presser and dropped a crazy speech 💀 pic.twitter.com/CM7KmeD9mA
— Happy Punch (@HappyPunch) January 23, 2025
Conor McGregor hypes BKFC: Knucklemania 5 with wild speech
Following McGregor’s strange link-up with the Paul brothers earlier this week, ‘Notorious’ stayed on the East Coast and made his way from DC to Philadelphia for the BKFC: Knucklemania 5 press conference.
“Oh, Philly! Sorry I’m late, I don’t give a f***,” screamed Conor McGregor as he walked on stage, before launching a rather poetic, and equally unhinged, speech in which he summoned the fighting Gods.
“I’m the big boss around here [and] I’m here to summon the Gods of fighting to action, may they turn our combatant’s knuckles to knives and on Saturday night, may we all bleed in the honor of Philadelphia’s rich fighting history.
“Rise above the night sky and rain down viciously, prove our worth against any deniers!”
McGregor then turned his attention to the two men fighting in the main event of the evening, former rivals Eddie Alvarez and ‘Who da f*** is that Guy’ Jeremy Stephens.
“May local boy, and former UFC lightweight world champion, former Bellator world champion, shut this man up over here Jeremy Stephens.
“He’s coming in here to Philadelphia on this great sporting weekend and trying to take you out Eddie; this is as big of a fight as it gets, with world title fight implications.”
It’s unclear which ‘title fight’ Conor McGregor is referring to – Alvarez vs Stephens is a welterweight bout; the current 165lb champion is Austin ‘No Doubt’ Trout, with Mike Perry also holding the symbolic ‘King of Violence’ championship.
“Like I said, combatants – turn your knuckles to knives,” continued Conor McGregor.
“Bleed in the honor of Philadelphia’s rich fighting history and show the people what Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship is all about.”
Jeremy Stephens wants to ‘beat up his boss’ after BKFC fight this weekend
Should Jeremy Stephens get his hand raised this weekend out in enemy territory, he’ll most likely call for a long-awaited showdown with Conor McGregor himself.
“Here I am, still doing it and showing no signs of slowing down and hopefully I get a chance to beat up my f****** boss too,” Stephens stated to Ariel Helwani earlier this week.
“Yeah, that’s the delusion, right, so I feel like if I just stay focussed and keep this championship mindset and things dialed in, Saturday night’s the only thing I’m worried about. I go in there and do my job and I handle business, who better?
“A lot of people are like ‘Who the fuck is this guy?’ but look, he got taken out by calf kicks, he’s been knocked out, I’ve continued to grow… I’ve continued to rise.”
Since leaving the UFC in 2021, Stephens first took three fights in the PFL (2-1), then competed in two boxing fights (including one against Jose Aldo), and is now 2-0 in the BKFC promotion. ‘Who da f*** is that guy? – That guy’s a f***** workhorse.