Team Alpha Male’s Andre Fili put on a dominant performance at Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 118. Beating out Conor McGregor’s teammate Artem Lobov by unanimous decision, the fighter appears to have gotten to “Notorious.”
Following the event, McGregor was caught on camera backstage attempting to console his defeated teammate. However, McGregor then referred to Fili by a gay slur.
Speaking to MMA Fighting, Andre Fili has now come forward with a response.
“There’s no need to use words like that. You don’t need to demean other people to make yourself seem bigger. Whenever you hear someone use that word or call someone a ‘bitch,’ that makes you look so insecure.”
Speaking on Conor McGregor’s cage side presence at the event, Fili added:
“That fired me right up. He tried to stare me down and I locked eyes with him and did not back down. He started quoting Notorious B.I.G. lyrics and I just laughed. I was just like ‘not tonight, motherf*cker.’ That’s why I did his ‘billionaire strut’ and everything.”
“There’s nothing like kicking someone’s ass with their best friend watching on in their corner. Conor did me a big favor. I was already ready to go but he made me turn it up another level.”
Fili then revealed that he and McGregor actually spoke after the fight.
“I told him it was all about the fight, what happened in the fight stayed there, and that I respected him. I thought we were cool. I meant it, too. I know having Conor in the middle of my fight means I get way more attention, I have more Twitter and Instagram followers now and I’ll make more money. I know what he’s done to lift the sport.
“But then, while I’m doing my interview, unbeknownst to me, he’s in the back calling me that word, while I’m in the cage doing my interview,” Fili said. “Then when I’m in back getting my medicals done, Conor walks up to me and he shakes my hand and tells me he respects me and that we had a bond because of The Ultimate Fighter (the season in which Fili was an assistant coach for Urijah Faber against McGregor’s team) and I told him I respected him.”
Once Fili learned about McGregor’s statement, the fighter had something else to say.
“Don’t be fake with me. I’m as real a person as you’re going to meet. You’re always going to know where you stand with me. For him to say what he said and then turn right around and act like we’re cool, that’s so fake.”
