The weight of UFC 329 fight week hit even before reaching Las Vegas. A message from a friend, responding to a clip discussing Conor McGregor’s glory years, questioned support for the athlete. ‘Do you really support Conor McGregor?’ she wrote, adding, ‘I can’t support that if you do.’
This exchange highlights the reality of covering the most divisive and controversial athlete to ever hail from the Emerald Isle. There are people in Ireland who cannot fathom the idea of McGregor the athlete taking precedence over his lengthy rap sheet. On the other hand, a whole new UFC fanbase is champing at the bit for its first fight week experience starring ‘The Notorious’. A mere mention of Nikita Hand or 2024’s civil sexual assault trial can provoke the most vehement defenses.
Ireland’s Shifting Perception of ‘The Notorious’
McGregor was once an overwhelmingly positive story back home in Ireland. As his peers were amidst a nation-wide recession, he forged a path in a sport most Irish people had never heard of. He eventually went on to transcend it, winning the 2016 RTE Sports Personality of the Year, as voted by the public. This serves as evidence of how prominent he was in the broader Irish consciousness, despite thriving in a niche discipline.
In 2014, the world watched what McGregor meant to his people during his Dublin homecoming, where he dusted Diego Brandao in front of a sold-out 3 Arena. It was not long before McGregor was on the infamous Las Vegas Boulevard, selling his UFC 178 clash with Dustin Poirier. Reporters from McGregor’s formative years were eager to tell American colleagues, ‘Yeah, he really is like that!’
Controversies Begin to Mount
The tone began to shift in Ireland somewhere around his blockbuster boxing bout with Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2017. While he was still hugely popular, people began to take issue not only with the ‘circus’ fight, but also some of McGregor’s declarations. A memorable one involved him telling the people of New York that he was ‘Black from the waist down’ at a pre-fight press conference.
After the Mayweather fight, and after McGregor took home the biggest fight purse of his life, he was filmed using a homophobic slur. This occurred in the aftermath of teammate Artem Lobov’s loss to Andre Fili in Poland. In response to these incidents, the defense, ‘He’s not really like that, we all make mistakes,’ was often employed.
- Conor McGregor’s lengthy rap sheet impacts public support.
- A new UFC fanbase is eager for ‘The Notorious’ at UFC 329.
- McGregor won the 2016 RTE Sports Personality of the Year.
- Public perception shifted around his 2017 Floyd Mayweather Jr. bout.