Conor McGregor is still popular as ever among Irish people, according to his coach John Kavanagh.
The public opinion of the UFC star appears to have changed after a series of incidents outside the Octagon in recent years.
Last November, the 31-year-old was convicted and fined €1,000 for assaulting a man in a Dublin pub.
But his long-term coach Kavanagh has said that time spent in his company paints a different picture of his popularity.
He told the MMA Fighting’s Eurobash podcast: “I’d love for people to spend a little bit of time, like I do, driving through town with Conor or having to call into a shop with Conor, and being mobbed for selfies and people shaking his hand and congratulating him.
“I think people sometimes confuse Twitter life with real life and believe stuff on Twitter, but very, very few people are on Twitter.
"In real life, when you’re going through Dublin and the airport, there are crowds of people screaming and running up to us.
"I’m not sure I agree with that, maybe there will be a couple of people on Twitter that will write something nice after it if he wins, but I wouldn’t hold my breathe on that.”
Asked again if he had noticed a drop in McGregor’s Irish support in the aftermath of his loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov, Kavanagh insisted that he hadn’t.
“When I’m physically with him, no...all I see is mobs of fans.”
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