THE DESCENT INTO THE GUTTER
Conor McGregor has gone from a cocky, egotistical pantomime villain... to a man facing multiple assault charges in a New York court. And the irony? Our writer warned months ago that he could lose it all unless he calms down...
He thinks there’s no such thing as bad publicity He has clearly bitten the hand that fed him
IT SEEMS it has finally happened, the incident that may force Conor McGregor, for once in his life, to stop and think about the consequences of his actions. Because here is the rub: McGregor clearly believes he’s above reproach. His actions in recent months have proven that he cares only about three things: himself, money and himself.
Four months ago, in this very newspaper, I wrote an article saying that McGregor needed to take a long, hard look at himself and work out what he valued most. I said he needed to cool it, or he’d lose everything. I hate to say I told you so... But don’t be fooled. This stunt — and it is a stunt — was always designed to get McGregor what he desires most: celebrity. He lives and breathes the mantra that there’s no such thing as bad publicity. But he’s wrong. And he’s about to learn that very quickly.
Cast your mind back to his brief legal skirmish in Dublin last year when he shamelessly disrespected an Irish court, arriving late in a sports car when he was forced to appear to face a speeding charge.
But the NYPD is a different breed. I doubt the Notorious would be foolish enough to show such irreverence to New York’s finest.
In the dark recesses of the city lock-up, I wonder has he shed some of his now notorious hubris? Because he has clearly bitten the hand that fed him.
His one-time mentor Dana White, who championed him when plenty warned him against it, has turned his back on his cash cow. ‘The UFC is bigger than Conor’ is the repeated message coming from the organisation. And he is, of course, right. So should McGregor be convicted and expelled from America on the back of these serious charges, a stark reality may be waiting for him in Dublin.
MMA in Ireland is in trouble. The Irish Government, in the form of Shane Ross, is hellbent on heavily regulating the ‘sport’ (and in my mind it is far from a sport). Following an inquest in February into the tragic death of Portuguese MMA fighter Joao Carvalho, who was fatally injured during a bout in Dublin, Ross laid down the law to the sport’s governing body.
The 28-year-old sustained 41 blows to the head in the Total Extreme Fighting contest at Dublin’s National Boxing Stadium on April 9, 2016. Carvalho, a father-oftwo, died in hospital two days after the fight. The cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head.
The inquest jury returned a verdict of misadventure and recommended the endorsement of a national governing body for MMA in Ireland. The jury further recommended that all medical partners engage nationally qualified paramedics and in the short-term MMA Ireland adopt the safety standards used in professional boxing. Ross has taken them to task.
‘It appears to me that MMA leaders here in Ireland are deliberately dragging their feet on the establishment of appropriate governance and safety standards,’ he said in a statement.
‘Today I call on the Irish Mixed Martial Arts Association to do the right thing — take the steps that are required to safeguard your fighters and prevent needless injury and loss of life.
‘Sport Ireland stands ready to help but can only help if you are willing to ask, and if you are willing to do the right thing.’
Labelling elements of MMA as ‘disturbing’, the minister previously expressed his concerns and called for further measures to be taken to guarantee more safety.
Now McGregor’s antics have once again thrown MMA into a spotlight it’s desperately trying to avoid. Every sport needs an injection of youth to survive. The GAA has become one of the world’s greatest exponents of harvesting neighbourhood children and hooking them on hurling, football or both from the age of four. Take the Cúl Camps initiative which, for a nominal fee, provides fun training and pretty nifty clobber to participants, ensuring that a steady flow of young blood floods the national organisation.
MMA is a not a nice sport at best, but what parent in their right mind would look at the news today and allow their kid into an octagon?
Thursday’s incident is just the latest in a long line of misdemeanours by McGregor. He has always been brash and cocky, partying heavily, and saying and doing things to keep himself in the headlines. But since his high-profile boxing match with Floyd Mayweather last August — he hasn’t fought in the UFC since the November before — it’s tipped over into another level.
It started with a homosexual slur he used when confronting another fighter after the man defeated a friend of McGregor’s in a UFC match. He was later forced to apologise for his actions on The Late Late Show in early November.
A week later, he set off a melee at a fighting event in Dublin when he leaped over the cage and confronted the referee who had taken charge of his teammate Charlie Ward’s bout. He appeared to shove the official and slap another staff member.
Two weeks after that, he was present when a brawl broke out in a South Dublin pub, which saw a man in his 50s punched twice in the face. The man is an associate of the Kinahan cartel but is not involved in criminality himself. It’s understood that McGregor left the pub soon after the fracas, before it emerged that he went partying in a Dublin nightclub the night after.
December saw him in court on that speeding charge, when he was ordered to attend by a furious judge after he failed to turn up on a number of occasions.
He was issued a €400 fine for doing 158kph in a 100kph zone on the Naas Road.
Next came the incident that prompted my column. I wrote that McGregor was standing at a
personal precipice. He had just spent a night out at the Fashion Awards in London with Rita Ora which she tagged on her social media as ‘Date Night’.
It seemed pretty tongue-in-cheek and not all that serious, especially considering both McGregor and Ora are in relationships. It may have been nothing more than a throwaway remark, but for other parties it is bang out of order. Her post was in my view totally disrespectful to Conor’s childhood sweetheart Dee Devlin, who he’s been with for nine years.
It doesn’t matter if the pair were merely flirting or just having a laugh together. McGregor’s partner was at home rearing their new baby boy Conor Jr and I wrote that it was about time he realised his actions had consequences.
However, just days later he continued his hedonistic crawl of London as he threw wads of cash into the air while partying with scantily-clad Northern Irish model Kamila Kostka. Dressed in just her underwear and thigh-high boots, she danced up to the fighter and cheered him on as he waved the money around.
Yet despite all this, children love Conor McGregor. His rags-toriches story is inspiring, the diamond in the rough who defied all the odds and became a millionaire superstar.
I watched one day as he practically shut down an Applegreen petrol station on the M7, when he pulled in for petrol and got mobbed by kids for pictures.
These were boys and girls around six or seven years old who were simply awestruck in front of him. He was a gentleman to parents and posed with every child on the forecourt before driving away in his sports car.
To me, it seemed that there is actually a class act hiding beneath the tattoos, the crass designer clobber and the acts of utter juvenile stupidity.
There are times when I think that the Crumlin native is acting like a Euromillions winner, caught in the headlights of instant fame and wealth. His apparent belief that money, fast cars and designer names are all that matters in life betray his heroic deeds on the mat.
The problem is that every time he acts like an out-of-control chav, hundreds of impressionable children are waiting and watching, and it would be infantile to believe that they are not being influenced by these crass shenanigans.
Thursday’s disgraceful actions would suggest that McGregor has taken a giant step over the edge and his life and personal image are in freefall. Yes, he may have banked €140 million but now he looks like nothing more than a thug with money.
What makes it worse is he’s not some down on his luck outsider with no solid base. As part of my recent coverage of Dancing With The Stars — on which McGregor’s sister Erin featured — I got to interact with his family quite a bit. His father Tony is a total gentleman who had so much time for the media, as did his mum. The ultrasupportive parents, along with their other daughter Aoife, made sure to attend every single week without fail to cheer on Erin as she struggled with her nerves.
They were smiling and courteous as they proudly watched from the sidelines. So whatever attentionseeking swagger McGregor displays in huge doses, it certainly didn’t come from his family. It seems he only has himself to blame for his actions.
The fact that he’s a father now should have been the wake-up call he needed to cop on and start acting like a man. What kind of example is he setting for his own son?
I have recently attempted to teach my eldest son about how his actions have consequences. He hit his brother and it cost him his Friday prizes. When he hit him a second time, he was without his bike for a day. He didn’t hit him a third time.
McGregor has no such understanding of consequences — it seems due to his warped sense of belief that money affords him the ability to do what he wants whenever he wants. The NYPD has put paid to those thoughts.
For maybe the first time in his life, Conor McGregor will face consequences and he will not like that. A conviction could see his US visa privileges revoked, signalling an end to his big pay-per-view paydays. I wonder will his money comfort him when he is back home in Ireland with nobody willing to listen to his posturing?
The next few months will be critical. Hopefully he learns quickly and dials his antics back a bit. Because his achievements should be celebrated and not blighted by his behaviour — otherwise he ends up as an unfortunate cliché.