LAS VEGAS – UFC President Dana White has no issue with Khabib Nurmagomedov leaving today’s UFC 229 press conference before Conor McGregor’s arrival. In fact, he thinks it was a smart move by the lightweight champion.

One of the overarching narratives going into Saturday’s headliner is whether McGregor (21-3 MMA, 9-1 UFC) has been able to get into Nurmagomedov’s (26-0 MMA, 10-0 UFC) head like he has so many of his other previous opponents. Prior to today, White said he was confident “The Notorious” had been successful in that venture.

White said Nurmagomedov’s answer of forcing the press conference to start at its scheduled 3 p.m. PT start time then leaving after 15 minutes was a stroke of genius, though.

“If you really look at what happened in New York (at the press conference), I think Conor McGregor absolutely got in his head, got in his manager’s head, rattled and shook them all in New York,” White told ESPN’s “SportsCenter” at the conclusion of the press conference. “I thought today was the perfect counter-punch by Khabib. Khabib went out there at 3 o’clock, said, ‘I’m a professional, I’m here, I’m here to answer questions, and then I’m going to leave.’ I thought it was played perfectly by Khabib.”

UFC 229 takes place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass.

Although the world was deprived of a traditional press conference face-off between Nurmagomedov and McGregor, White said he wasn’t particularly bothered by it. The risk of any sort of shenanigans that could put the fight in jeopardy were taken off the table, and it only adds more intrigue to the final staredown between champion and challenger following Friday’s ceremonial weigh-ins.

White said the actions of both Nurmagomedov and McGregor are merely another element in the wild build to UFC 229. The talking is over now, though, and White said he’s eager to see the fighters come together one last time after they step on the scale and make the fight official.

“It was a little awkward and little weird for us to run the press conference today,” White said. “But you’ve got to remember, these are all mind games that are leading up into tomorrow. Both guys have to cut weight tonight, and the real staredown is tomorrow at the weigh-ins.”

For more on UFC 229, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.