Conor McGregor finds his comfort zone in New York ahead of UFC’s debut card in the state

Conor McGregor drove through traffic to Madison Square Garden on Thursday in a Rolls Royce, arriving fashionably late in white mink coat, red turtleneck and floral black and red pants.

“Gucci, head to toe,” McGregor told The Times following another eventful news conference to mark his organization’s New York debut with a UFC 205 main event he’s headlining Saturday.

Ireland’s McGregor (20-3) will attempt to become the first fighter in UFC history to simultaneously hold two belts when he meets lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez (28-4) of Philadelphia.

A victory probably would require McGregor to choose between his featherweight belt or the new one, a decision he feels in no rush to consider. “I’m enjoying every single moment and I won’t let nobody take anything away from me,” he said. “I’m in the moment, enjoying every bit.”

Much of that has to do with New York. McGregor has been in the city for more than a week and has access to two Rolls Royces, one of which has a likeness of his image with his nickname, “Notorious,” emblazoned on it.

Cruising where he wants in the car, he’s staying in a penthouse at an exclusive seven-star hotel, enjoying a wide view of the city skyline and says he’s taken daily shopping trips to high-end stores such as Tom Ford and Cartier.

He also has been able to sample New York’s fine dining, admitting he needs to devote some serious time to cutting pounds before Friday’s weigh-in.

The UFC, after a decade-long bid to overturn a state ban in response to the early, lightly regulated days of mixed martial arts, is celebrating its debut in New York after Gov. Andrew Cuomo legalized the sport in April.

Before McGregor’s last fight in August, a news conference in Las Vegas erupted with McGregor retaliating after being targeted by water bottles thrown by his opponent, Nate Diaz. McGregor launched two energy drink cans in the Diaz camp’s direction and the Nevada State Athletic Commission fined the Irishman $75,000 for the episode.

With that in mind, McGregor was asked if he’d like to continue fighting in New York.

“After coming here and seeing this, hell yes, but we’ll see what happens,” he said. “New York’s a beautiful place. The fans’ reaction to me has been phenomenal. I’m grateful for it. It’s been very enjoyable.”

Of course, he couldn’t get through the Thursday news conference without his brazen ways and sharp tongue creating a stir.

Angered that McGregor arrived about 15 minutes late to the session, Alvarez exited the stage after being roundly harassed by the pro-McGregor crowd.

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McGregor entered picking up where he left off at Wednesday’s public workout, when he was handed a basketball after sparring on the hardwood of the New York Knicks’ floor and promptly banked in a free throw on his only try.

This time, adorned in the long mink coat, he skipped along the back of the stage in a one-footed shooting pose and later went to Alvarez’s vacated table to claim a belt he believes will be his.

Alvarez didn’t like that, returning to snatch the belt back from a briefly distracted McGregor, who nevertheless went back after it as UFC President Dana White tried to intervene.

McGregor picked up a metal folding chair and raised it, admitting after the situation calmed that he “wanted to bounce it off [Alvarez’s] head.”

“I’m just happy I didn’t throw it, because … I came close,” McGregor told his agent, Audie Attar. “I was going to let it go, but then I thought … I’d have court cases and so much else if I let that chair go.” his agent Audie

McGregor said he plans to top that Saturday night, facing a strong 32-year-old wrestler who won the belt in July by knocking out Rafael dos Anjos in the first round.

But Alvarez has now received the full McGregor treatment, the gamesmanship that often transforms disciplined fight plans against a sharp-thinking, fast-moving champion.

“He’s flustered,” McGregor said of Alvarez. “I just have fun and tell the truth and tell how the contest is going to go and that does a sound job. I just do whatever happens.

“I’ll be ready for five rounds, but I think I’ll hit him and he’ll fall.”

UFC 205

When: Saturday, 7 p.m. PST (pay-per-view)

Where: Madison Square Garden

Television: Pay-per-view, $64.95; Preliminaries on Fox Sports 1, 5 p.m. PST

Fight card: Conor McGregor (20-3) vs., Eddie Alvarez (28-4) for Alvarez’s lightweight belt; Tyron Woodley (16-3) vs. Stephen Thompson (13-1) for Woodley’s welterweight belt; Joanna Jedrzejczyk (12-0) vs. Karolina Kowalkiewicz (10-0) for Jedrzejczyk’s women’s straw-weight belt.

lance.pugmire@latimes.com

Twitter: @LATimespugmire