O’reilly reminds me of the typical loud mouth at an Irish pub who claims he can lick any man who dares enter the premises. When the guy actually shows up O’reilly buys him a beer.
That analogy is spot on!
It just goes to affirm that really all he wants is to breath all the air in the room, get all the attention for himself,
and when the capable fighter shows up, change the subject and win him over too!