Thanks, ‘scum’
Paulie Malignaggi revealed the real story behind the viral photograph of him lying on the canvas in front of Conor McGregor during their hotly debated sparring session in Las Vegas.
The photograph was published on Twitter by McGregor photographer Dave Fogarty on Thursday with a caption “there no conspiracy, there no photoshop just pure unadulterated power.”
Malignaggi has furiously denied he was knocked down by the UFC star during the 12-round session, insisting he was pushed down in the moment captured by Fogarty.
McGregor hasn’t specifically addressed the situation — a move Malignaggi said he believes is aimed at maintaining the mystique around his boxing ability.
“The funny thing about the pushdown round was this … it was during one of his worst moments,” Malignaggi told the MMA Hour. “He pushed me down on the floor to try and catch a break. The instant I went down I got up and I remember I continued the trash talk and said, ‘What’s up, buddy? You need a break?’
“I started taking it to him right after. I said, ‘There’s no breaks here, you don’t get no break’ and started hitting him with more body shots and said, ‘Take those, they don’t feel good.’ And I heard him start to whimper … and said, ‘Take those, eat those, get used to those.’ ”
The retired pugilist quit McGregor’s camp after the image was leaked following the session — the second time he sparred with McGregor as the two-division UFC champion prepares for his boxing debut against all-time great Floyd Mayweather.
Malignaggi, who won world titles in two weight divisions during a career in which he fought the best fighters of his era, labeled McGregor a “scumbag” and a “b---h,” his team a bunch of “cheerleaders” and the accommodation he was provided while he stayed in Las Vegas a “crackhouse.”
Malignaggi said McGregor started and finished strongly, but that he was able to dominate in the middle rounds.
“He caught a nice one [beating] for five rounds,” Malignaggi said. “After seven, which was one of his worst rounds, he tells me ‘7-0 me.’ I remember walking back to my corner yelling back to him, ‘ Whatever school you went to, they didn’t teach you how to count.’ ”
In his only public comments on the controversy, McGregor told Showtime’s All Access: “[Malignaggi] stayed in there, you’ve got to respect him for that. But that was it. He came, he got his ass whooped and that was it.”