UFC 196: Conor McGregor warns Nate Diaz: 'Don't blink, I’m coming out the gate fast'

The UFC 196 open workouts took place on Wednesday in front of both media and fans at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas

Despite turning up 60-minutes late for his timeslot, Conor McGregor put on a show that we’ve come to expect from the featherweight champion, displaying his unique movement training with his coach Ido Portal and a very light sparring session with fellow UFC fighter and good friend Artem Lobov.

At the conclusion of the workout, Conor delivered a strong message regarding his approach to the opening of the fight against his opponent Nate Diaz. While signing autographs for fans, the Independent asked “The Notorious” for a message to his fans back home in Ireland who will be watching the fight. This elicited a fired-up response from the Irishman.

“Thank you for the support. Don’t blink. I’m coming out the gate fast...," he said. "I’m coming out the gate fast! Let’s see what he’s about! He talked a lot, now he don't talk no more!”

Speaking in a media scrum afterwards, McGregor alluded to the fact he would be interested in challenging for the UFC welterweight belt at UFC 200.

"I respect [Lawler] as a champion, as a man who drifted off, came back, stayed on it and rose up and became the welterweight champion," said McGregor.

"We'll see how that goes. That is an appealing one for me, the welterweight [title]. All the belts. We'll see."

McGregor was speaking after Diaz had taken to the stage earlier in the afternoon. After shadow-boxing his way around the stage, the Stockton native took the mats and showed off some impressive Jui Jitsu and grappling skills.

Speaking after his brief showing, Diaz showed respect to his Irish opponent on Saturday and said: “I like his fight style a lot better than a lot of peoples’ fight styles.

“The fight game has gotten really weak (over) a long time. So I guess I could say I appreciate somebody that’s coming to fight.”

He then added: "It feels a little different because it’s short notice, and there’s a lot of (expletive) crammed into one little week. But it’s a big show, and I’ve been on a lot of big shows. It’s a big deal because there’s a lot of people here. It’s pretty cool.”

open image in gallery

The co-main event stars Holly Holm and Miesha Tate, who also showed their skills off to the crowd.

The current UFC women's bantamweight Holm was in a playful mood and invited a youngster to join her up on stage to practice their dance moves. After dancing her way through to the end of her workout, it was then time for Miesha Tate to enter the stage and she was also all smiles.

Tate thanked the crowd several times whilst making her way through shadow-boxing, pad work and Jui Jitsu drills. She then told the media afterwards that she was going to do everything in her power on Saturday night to become the UFC women's bantamweight champion of the world.

Tomorrow the next leg of UFC 196 fight week will commence when the MGM Grand hosts a press conference featuring McGregor, Diaz, Tate and Holm. It will be streamed LIVE at 9pm GMT on YouTube.