Conor McGregor: The Dark Knight Of MMA
There is only one time I can recall seeing Conor McGregor somewhat phased by the words of another man.
It was a cold November night in New York and he and Eddie Alvarez were sat down for one of many dual interviews before their bout at Madison Square Garden. An interview with the Lightweight champion in recent years has been a bit like pulling the string on a talking toy and trying to guess which funny line you get. When the man in the Gucci mink was asked about how he’d make the UFC great, he went into standby mode and said that the company’s $4.025 billion price tag, which he was largely responsible for, meant that the company was already great. Perhaps a valid point. Eddie responded by pointing out that the fighters make the company great and then dropped by far the biggest bombshell of the interview session.
“You were on welfare, bruh. You ain’t no man, you took welfare. Don’t talk about money.”
Those comments are not dimmed by Eddie’s apology soon afterwards. They visibly hit the Irishman where it hurts, putting his pride in a rear-naked choke. After all, the pain of financial struggle was and likely still is close to his heart. Just three years prior on his UFC debut, a 24-year old McGregor knocked out Marcus Brimage (on his opponent’s 28th birthday no less), won a $50,000 bonus and then went to the post-fight press conference to explain that a week back, he was at the social welfare office.
“Just last week I was collecting the social welfare, you know what I mean? I was even saying to them ‘I don’t know what’s gonna happen, I’m signed to the UFC, I don’t know what… blah blah blah’ but now I suppose I’m just gonna tell them to fuck off (laughs)”
By no means was McGregor putting any sort of act on there and he certainly isn’t now, but the lines between that man and the one we now know are far less parallel than we’re used to.
“Anytime I don’t have competition ahead of me I just seem to drift,” he said at the same press conference. It’s perhaps a euphemistic way of describing what’s happened to The Champ Champ recently, drifting. More than 15 months have passed since his last performance in the octagon and Conor is undergoing a transition from the down to earth guy you felt like you knew who was painfully easy to root for to this superstar who feels out of arm’s reach.
We used to see ourselves in McGregor. It became natural to look at what he was becoming and dream it for ourselves. But it’s hard to feel at one or empathise with a man worth over $100 million who is somewhat turning his back on what made him rich. By no means should he apologise for his rapid rise and financial gain but maintaining his sincerity might be smart, even as a business move if nothing else. Immediately after his loss to Mayweather whilst vulnerable and humble in defeat was the last time Conor felt at all relatable. But with every spiteful tweet the sighs grow louder and what used to be admiration has turned into a cold resentment. With every “fuck the Featherweight division”, more and more eyes roll in boredom. Tears of joy from laughter have become tears of frustration. The shtick is growing tired.
Some of Conor’s social media habits have implied a significant level of insecurity. He took to Twitter after Holloway, Ferguson and Nurmagomedov’s most recent fights respectively to taunt them. To an extent, it just felt like he wanted his name back in the mix in divisions which, to be brutally honest, are having little to no trouble running smoothly without his presence in 2018.
‘What does The Notorious Conor McGregor have to be insecure about?’, you might ask. Truthfully, whether or not it’s justified, his impact on MMA has been in question as of late. His bout with Mayweather raised more questions from non-MMA fans about fighters’ skill than it answered. All of his next options in the UFC pose threats to his style, whether it’s Khabib’s mauling, Diaz’s cardio, El Cucuy’s ground game or even Woodley’s right hand from hell. And lastly, the area in which he’s arguably flourished he most – trash talking – has sort of taken on a life of its own that even Conor himself might not be able to stand by. EA Sports UFC 3's career mode sees to it that players are made to choose between trash talking and training, a distinction highlighted by the game’s creative director Brian Hayes. He told MMA Fighting that to be considered the greatest of all time, you have to be a superstar. For me, the beautiful thing about MMA is that the antithesis of that is true. You can absolutely beat everyone in your division and the next without disrespectfully bashing anyone at all. The developers of the new game refrained from updating the grappling or ground mechanics from EA Sports UFC 2. I’m not sure it’s a coincidence that Conor is on the cover and it leads me to wonder if things would be the same if Conor were more of a well-rounded fighter.
Each semi-update we get on the Irishman’s real-life UFC plans leave him in a less than favourable position with fans and day by day it gets more and more difficult to defend his actions and empty promises.
Is this an irreversible change? Absolutely not. It’s entirely plausible that McGregor returns to the MMA world later this year feeling refreshed, fans’ hearts seeming to only grow fonder in his absence. He could once again be a man of the people and inspiring in more ways than just a symbol of being filthy rich. At the end of the day, perception is all that has changed in that regard. But when that perception on social media is your only access to someone is where things get a little tricky.
Conveying that he’s still connected with his roots could prove vital for the current Lightweight champion. Or else once he’s inevitably stripped of the title this April due to inactivity, he won’t even have the People’s Championship to his name.
Last summer in the lead up to the Mayweather fight, Conor posted a training montage on Instagram with the caption “I am Batman”. It is drowning in irony. McGregor is sort of like The Dark Knight of MMA. “You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” Assuming it ever takes place, how Conor McGregor handles his journey back into the UFC could be pivotal and very telling. There is no doubt that it will be his hardest fight yet.
