For days, it appeared Ryan Garcia was getting down to business, seriously preparing for the big fight against Conor Benn, which is now less than a month away. However, that notion has proved illusory. The WBC welterweight champion is once again back to doing what he usually does—going viral on social media.

With an adversary in the crosshairs, Ryan Garcia’s task has become much easier. What sets his latest act apart is that Garcia tied the simmering tension with Conor Benn to a promotional video for Conor McGregor‘s energy drink brand. With his WBC title on the line, Garcia will face Benn at the T-Mobile Arena during Mexican Independence Weekend.

“Conor Benn can’t handle MAC Energy… how’s he gonna handle me? 😭 Sept 12 🥊⚡️,” the message on Ryan Garcia’s Instagram post read.

It accompanies a short video featuring an actor imitating Benn. The goofy parody begins with the English welterweight contender receiving an “official” invite from Conor McGregor to visit the MAC Mansion. Surprised, the actor, or in this case Benn, thinks, “Ryan has all the energy. I don’t understand it. I like to drink tea.”

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As he enters the mansion, eerie silence and a poster of the Garcia fight welcome him.

“Conor McGregor was kind enough to invite me to his Beverly Hills Mansion, although I can’t find him anywhere. Wasn’t expecting Buckingham Palace,” the actor playing Benn says, looking surprised.

Without McGregor in sight, just as he sits down to have his cup of tea, Benn sees a MAC truck pulling up to the porch, with Ryan Garcia’s picture on the back door. Before he can come to his senses, “Benn” is soon kidnapped by a few people emerging from inside the truck who gag him and take him to what turns out to be the champion’s place.

“Unbelievable. Conor, you look like sh-t. What are you doing here?” Garcia tells Benn, who is visibly shocked.

The next scenes show the American trolling and threatening Nigel Benn’s son.

“You are going to get knocked out. I’m telling you. September 12th. You won’t see anything. You won’t see the 12th round. You will be on the mat. You’ll be sleeping,” Garcia says.

The video ends with Garcia pushing Benn into a swimming pool.

To set the record straight, there are no reports of Garcia and McGregor knowing each other personally, or for that matter, even working together. The most recognizable event when the two met, however, remains the video in which the former UFC champion interacted with Garcia backstage after the latter suffered a knockout loss to Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis.

The footage, meanwhile, follows another clip that has gone viral. In that clip, Garcia could be seen mimicking Benn, who has previously questioned the champion’s Hispanic heritage by teasing his inability to speak fluent Spanish. Another video showed Garcia mocking Benn’s training activity.

Taken together, Garcia appears to be working to build the hype around the much-anticipated fight.

Ryan Garcia keeps poking Benn, but the boxing world is taking notice

Already viewed by many as the odds-on favorite to win, Garcia is likely getting into pre-fight action by getting under his opponent’s skin.

While his last two appearances, against Mario Barrios and Rollo ‘Rolly’ Romero, were subdued, fans might remember the way he acted up in the lead-up to the infamous showdown against Devin Haney in April of 2024.

Weeks before the fight took place at the Barclays Center, Garcia launched a social media barrage that saw him make some of the wildest claims. It reached the point where some even started questioning his mental stability.

In that context, Garcia has already received a warning from someone he has been taunting and calling out frequently. “Ryan Garcia, you might get knocked out. You better be training and taking this fight seriously,” Terence Crawford is reported to have said a few weeks ago.

Already a shift in being observed, with many pundits, including the now-retired undisputed champion, believing Benn has a good chance to pull off a major upset on September 12, when he meets Garcia.

With just a few weeks remaining, it would do Garcia good to get his act together and take his training seriously. Another defeat could put his career, which he carefully put back on track after the PED scandal, back to square one, making his return this time a daunting challenge.

A loss to a visiting Benn at this stage would only make Garcia a laughing stock in the boxing world.