Four years ago Conor McGregor had the world at his feet and was one of the most famous people
on earth.
Now he’s The Notorious for all the wrong reasons and his fame has turned to infamy at record-breaking speed.
There’s every chance that in four years’ time fathers here will warn their sons…. “Don’t end up like Conor McGregor”.
It’s quite a feat to go from a national hero to a national embarrassment in such a short space of time.
Let’s put it this way, the Conor McGregor we see in interviews is not the same individual who is out and about with his posse.
Because of recent controversial events there is a media clampdown and there are no questions allowed that are not vetted.
When a reporter in Russia tried to ask the UFC star about a recent alleged incident, he was cut off by the moderator who told the journalist to “behave himself”.
Strange place for a press conference, Moscow, especially when his next fight is in Nevada against an unnamed opponent.
You’d imagine he would have staged it in Vegas, where the fight will take place.
Then again, the US media are not shy about asking awkward questions which is why his camp are not allowing any open press conferences.
No doubt he’ll fill the T-Mobile Arena in Sin City when he makes his comeback in January.
But I believe if the real Conor McGregor stood up a lot of people would run for the doors.
I believe we got a glimpse of the genuine article when he smashed that man’s phone in Miami and we saw it again when he threw a trolley at the window of a bus in New York last year.
It has been pointed out that if McGregor was a black fighter he would be branded a thug with a severe attitude problem and wouldn’t be getting any endorsements... except maybe from anger management clinics.
In my mind the real Conor McGregor is the one I saw on video allegedly hitting a man on the head in a Dublin bar because he apparently refused to drink his whiskey.
He came out and apologised but only after the video of him carrying out the attack went viral on social media.
Had it not been caught on camera we’d never have known about it.
Actually I can’t fault the man involved if he did not want to drink his whiskey, neither would I, for his Proper 12, like himself, is not what it seems.
For a start, it’s not 12 years old. If you do want a real, reasonably-priced 12-year-old whiskey, try Redbreast. That man he attacked obviously knows his whiskey and got punched for having good taste.
The pictures of the Dubliner with his hand up a woman’s skirt which appeared in the Irish Mirror last May are also less than tasteful.
His denials stating he is not the father of this woman’s child and use of every available
opportunity to portray himself as a doting dad and loyal partner have me reaching for the sick bucket.
But, as a counterpunch, Paul Byrne’s story on McGregor’s alleged love child has been nominated for Scoop of the Year at the Press Awards in two weeks’ time.
But here’s the rub, even though there were reports of his bad behaviour early on, I was a big fan at the start of his career.
Having done a bit of boxing and karate when I was young, I have to admit I too was caught up in the mania of the early days and stayed up all night to see him win the world title.
I also came close to dragging my then 15-year-old son along to Vegas to see him fight.
To highlight the growing popularity of the sport on the back of McGregor’s success, I even did a bit of sparring in the Octagon with Swedish fighter Kim Nyman at the Notorious’s Straight Blast Gym in Dublin.
In this column I wrote that in his world title-winning fight: “Conor made us proud of the tricolour and for a few minutes, it was like Italia 90 all over again.”
I even slagged off the do-gooders who complained against MMA fights.
Three years and a hundred million dollars later the dream is dead and a nation is mortified if and when he lifts up the tricolour to celebrate.
When I visited the SBG gym there were dozens of children practising, hoping to follow in the footsteps of their hero. Now, any future success in the Octagon cannot undo the damage he has done outside it.
I have a feeling that when McGregor fights again, most men, and I’d hazard to say all the women watching, will be on the side of his opponent.
It’s not that Conor McGregor has fallen from grace, he never had any to start with.
