Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
CONOR’S £1M LOSER’S PARTY
The Notorious chills out with fans in Las Vegas after defeat to Mayweather
CONOR Mcgregor threw a £1million bash in Vegas after his defeat to Floyd Mayweather.
The Notorious partied into the small hours with more than 2,000 devoted fans at Encore Beach Club.
Revellers paid £155 just to get in before forking out a fortune on booze.
The 29-year-old said: “It didn’t turn out the way we wanted, but we can still party like it did. The war goes on.”
CONOR Mcgregor partied like a winner after losing to Floyd Mayweather, defiantly telling 2,000 fans at a million-pound after-fight bash: “You will never beat the Irish.”
Standing on stage in a floral suit, the Dublin-born mixed martial arts legend known as The Notorious then urged his fans: “Have a whiskey.”
Earlier, he had used the post-fight press conference to launch his own Notorious brand of Irish whiskey.
He arrived clutching the bottle in one hand and swigged from the glass in his other hand as he declared he would “take over the Irish whiskey market”.
He then went on to the sell-out afterfight party at the Encore Beach Club in Las Vegas, where he got a hero’s welcome from fans who had paid £155 to get in. He told them: “It didn’t turn out the way we wanted, but we can still party like it did. The war goes on.”
He later rapped to the Fat Joe, Remy Ma hit All the Way Up to the delight of his fans, who were swigging from £7,750 three-litre bottles of Dom Perignon and Cristal Champagne.
A source at the bash said: “It was easily a £1million party. We’ve never seen spending like it. Conor wanted to throw one of the best parties Vegas has ever seen and he succeeded.”
Mcgregor, 29, had arrived with girlfriend Dee Devlin, and his parents Tony and Mags and sisters Erin and Aoife.
Earlier they had eaten at the Andreas Asian fusion restaurant in the Encore, tucking into £77 fillets of Wagyu beef, garlic lobster, sushi and miso black cod.
The mixed martial arts UFC legend could afford it after pocketing around £70million from the fight, bumping his fortune up to £95million.
Former plumbing apprentice Mcgregor had vowed to KO Mayweather, 40, inside two rounds at the T Mobile Arena.
He impressed in the early stages of the fight, but tired as the American’s punches took their toll, and ref Robert Byrd stopped the fight in the 10th.
His girlfriend Dee watched ringside with their son Conor Jnr. They later posed for a family photo with Mcgregor’s sisters and parents in the dressing room.
Stars at the fight included actresses Jennifer Lopez and Charlize Theron, sports stars Alex Rodriguez and Lebron James and actors Leonardo Dicaprio, Orlando Bloom, Chris Hemsworth, Bruce Willis, Jamie Foxx, Adrien Brody and Gerard Butler.
Also ringside were Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne and their son Jack, along with rapper P Diddy, football legend Vinnie Jones, and ex boxing champ Mike Tyson.
Imelda May sang the Irish national anthem before the bout after receiving a
To be honest not many of us expected Conor to win. He gave it a good go SHAUN MALONEY MCGREGOR FAN IN LAS VEGAS
last-minute invite from Mcgregor. American singer Demi Lovato performed The Starspangled Banner.
The fight was delayed by several minutes due to problems streaming it to pay-per-view buyers.
TV rights worth £550million were sold to more than 200 countries, while ticket sales brought in a further £70million, even though the fight was not a sellout, with only 14,623 in the audience at the 19,000-capacity arena.
Fans were not too disheartened by Mcgregor’s defeat. Shaun Maloney, 35, from Donegal, said: “To be honest, not many of us expected Conor to win. He gave it a good go. Not many men would get in a ring with Mayweather. We’re still going to have a party. After all, it is Las Vegas. It would be rude not to.”
Mayweather was also partying after making about £230million from the fight. He went to his Girls Collection strip club to celebrate, arriving in a £2.5million red Bugatti Grand Sport.
Police were called to the club at around 2.30am, Vegas time, when the party spilled out into the street.
It was Mayweather’s last fight and he retired unbeaten in 50 fights. He said: “Tonight was my last fight. I chose the right partner to dance with.”
Mcgregor’s fans in Ireland stayed up late to watch the showdown.
Around 100 people watched in Crumlin Boxing Club, where Mcgregor first pulled on the gloves at the age of 10.
His old coach Phil Sutcliffe said: “It was a fantastic effort He was exceptional.”
Fan David Kelly questioned whether Mayweather would be as keen to fight Mcgregor in a mixed marital arts fight. He said: “He beat us at his game – let him come to our game and we will beat him at our game.”