Conor McGregor will be kick-starting 2021's UFC pay-per-views events with a grand entrance at the Etihad Arena. The Irishman goes up against Dustin Poirier on Saturday night at UFC 257.
Conor McGregor also featured in the first pay-per-view of 2020 when he faced Donald 'Cowboy' Cerrone at UFC 246. That event went on to become the highest grossing UFC pay-per-view of last year with a sale of 1.35 million buys.
With only a couple of days left for the grand return of 'The Notorious', Farah Hannoun of UFC Arabia asked Conor McGregor on media day if he had a special entrance planned for UFC 257.
The Irishman said, without revealing any detail about the same, that the fans can indeed expect "something special" when he walks out to the octagon for the main event of the night. He pointed out that he started the year in a huge way for UFC last year, and he plans on doing it even better in 2021.
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"That's right. They're working on something special. I am very excited to go out and again kick-start the year in big style. We kick-started it last year. The UFC went on to have a tremendous year after that, and you know, I'll do it once again, even better."
Farah Hannoun went on to ask in the interview if he was going to arrive in a jet ski, given how he arrived at the Fight Island in his own private yacht. "You never know, baby!" said Conor McGregor.
Conor McGregor was excited to fight in an empty stadium
When Conor McGregor last fought in UFC, fans were still allowed into the arenas. Things have drastically changed ever since. UFC held most of the events last year from May to December without any crowd. A couple thousand fans will be allowed into the Etihad Arena at UFC 257, which is still much less than the actual capacity of the venue.
However, Conor McGregor stated that he was actually looking forward to fight without the noise of the crowd and hear the sound of his shots ricochet around the arena.
"I was actually excited to compete without the fans. I wanted to hear my power translate without the sound. Then I heard we are in the Etihad Arena and weren't in the marquee, I was excited it to be an empty arena and the sounds would have ricocheted, and I was really happy with that. Now there's only a couple of thousand in a large arena. My power will still translate for sure with that, so I'm still excited to hear the velocity I possess."