From Dublin With Love

This article was written by Liam Maguire and was originally published on www.unicafemedia.com

Earlier this year, I purchased a Conor McGregor t-shirt while I was in Las Vegas. The shirt read, ‘Mystic Mac, reveal the future. Knows all, sees all’. The text circled around the face of a gaunt McGregor in a zen state. I wore the shirt the next day. The first stranger I came into contact with, the hotel valet, would say, “Ayy McGregor. Love your shirt man”. That valet worked for his tip.

A couple of Sundays ago, I went to a bar with my ‘Mystic Mac’ t-shirt on. It wasn’t long before someone commented on it; “Is that McGregor on your shirt?” the girl continued, “I love him”. There were a lot of good sorts at the bar that day, but this girl had suddenly become the fairest of them all.

Conor McGregor is the hottest item in world sport.

But why?

His charismatic personality? His adorable Irish accent? His deadly left hand?

Yes, yes and yes. But, more importantly, he’s a human being. Human beings relate to other human beings, funny that. Moreover, human beings relate to someone who climbs to the top. Here is a guy who, not so long ago, was a plumber living in his parent’s attic.; and now he is the golden goose of the UFC. Conor McGregor is your classic success story, and people love success stories.

But this success story is different. The way his rise has been chronicled, particularly by himself, is unprecedented.

“Losers focus on winners. Winners focus on winning.”

Conor McGregor is a winner. He’s always seen himself as a winner. He’s always seen himself as the champion. Every step of the way, every fight along the journey, McGregor has been prophetic.

I remember sitting in an airport in Lille, France and attempting to stream his fight against Diego Brandao. The stream wasn’t great and for the other fights on the card I would be dropping in and out. Thankfully, though, I got five minutes of uninterrupted viewing for the McGregor fight and that was all I would need.

“I said I’d knock him out in the first round and I knocked him out in the first round.”

This high level of self-belief is why people are drawn to him.; and also why some don’t like him. But as he says, “Those people (the detractors) will stay where they are. The people who take inspiration from it (his success) will rise up and also one day experience that life”.

I am a testament to that statement.

I’ve been a fan of the UFC since the Brock Lesnar days, but it wasn’t until I started watching this flashy Irishman that I ever felt inclined to learn Mixed Martial Arts. I’ve been training for eight months now and it’s one of the best things I’ve ever done with my life.

After doing MMA for a while it became clear to me that fighting is the highest level of human competition, and is really much more than just a sport. There are no balls or bats, just two combatants trying to impose their will; which further explains the McGregor phenomenon.

Video: Fightland

Conor McGregor is a fighter. He is the purest form of athlete; a man that steps into a cage to duke it out for a living; and when that honest form of athlete has an honest, real approach to their craft, it is truly captivating.

“There is no opponent. There is no Jose Aldo, who the fuck is Jose Aldo? There’s no no one. You’re against yourself.”

When he gave the finger to Dennis Siver before they fought, when he snatched Jose Aldo’s belt at the Dublin press conference, when he called Rafael Dos Anjos a fake brazillian; all instances that could be perceived as arrogant and disrespectful by the casual observer. But for McGregor they are just another piece in the puzzle, another step on the journey to achieving greatness. Arrogance is not to be mistaken for belief.

“Do I hate my opponents? How could I hate someone who has the same dream as me?”

Conor McGregor is the hottest thing in world sport, not because he is quick witted (although that does help), not because he has dynamite in his left hand (although that definitely helps), but because he is a human being looking to live out his dream every single day.

Like you.

Like me.

We are living in the McGregor era. What a time to be alive.