IS CONOR McGREGOR GOING OFF THE RAILS?

Millions in the bank, a growing family and thriving businesses: the UFC fighter seems to have it all. But recent scandals and a puzzling social media posting have left many questioning what the future holds

His problems started after his massive payday

THE video clip left most of his fans baffled. Conor McGregor, the world’s most famous cagefighter, last Monday posted footage of himself hanging out the rear window of a car, banging the side door as it travelled through the streets of what appeared to be New York as fans cheered. Below it was a quote from the Batman film, The Dark Knight. In that brief monologue, The Joker – famously played as a terrifying, violent psychopath by Heath Ledger, who took his own life only months later – attempts to justify his brutal savagery. In his view, you see, the morality of decent citizens is actually just ‘a bad joke’.

As Ledger’s Joker hisses: ‘When the chips are down these, uh, civilised people? They’ll eat each other.’

And with that prediction comes the deluded finale of self-justification: ‘See, I’m not a monster — I’m just ahead of the curve.’

Quite why McGregor would have wanted to post this particular monologue on a quiet Monday afternoon remains a mystery. What is clear, though, is that it is the latest in a series of bizarre actions, ranging from the surreal to the violent, that have left many wondering if the real joke here is McGregor himself — a man who increasingly looks like he is on the verge of a catastrophic (and probably very public) implosion.

On paper, the opposite should be the case. From humble beginnings in Crumlin, where he started boxing at the age of 12 before switching to the new sport of MMA in his late teens, the cocky, trash-talking star has amassed an eye-watering fortune estimated at $100million by the US business bible, Forbes magazine. The money has come not just from fighting, but from endorsements and even the recent launch of his own clothing line and a whiskey brand. His collection of supercars alone is said to be worth €2.5million.

On the home front, he already has a son, Conor Jack McGregor Jr, with his partner of ten years, Dee Devlin, and she is expecting their second child shortly after Christmas.

In August 2017 came the pinnacle, when McGregor switched to boxing to take on Floyd Mayweather, the multiple world champion lured out of retirement with the prospect of a $100million purse. Although Mayweather won, McGregor lasted ten rounds and won praise for his tenacity and courage before tiredness finally overtook him.

Estimates vary for how much McGregor himself earned, anywhere from $35million to $85million, but one thing was proved beyond all doubt — his pulling power.

Over one million viewers in Ireland and the UK paid to watch the fight on Sky, and it was the secondbiggest pay-per-view event of all time in North America. In total, it generated revenue of a staggering $550 million.

Since then, however, it has all been downhill, leading many to wonder whether the Crumlin man is set to join the list of great fighters who had it all — but then threw it all away.

He has been involved in a series of brawls outside the ring which have left the threat of jail hanging over him. Inside the cage, he hasn’t won a fight for more than two years. Throw in court cases for multiple speeding offences, highly visible partying, videos of himself with half-naked women, being forced to apologise for gay slurs, misguidedly complimentary words about Russia’s dictatorial president Vladimir Putin, and an ill-considered night out with pop star Rita Ora, and a pattern emerges of a man who has lost all sense not only of where he came from — but where he is going, too.

His problems started after that massive payday last year. In November 2017, after gym-mate Charlie Ward knocked out rival John Redmond in the first round, McGregor jumped the cage before the fight was officially declared over. When referee Marc Goddard protested, McGregor charged at him, then pushed Redmond to the ground when he tried to get back-up, and finally slapped a commissioner in the face.

On The Late Late Show, he had to apologise for a video in which he repeatedly used the word ‘faggot’ in relation to rival fighter Andre Fili.

‘It is an offensive word and I shouldn’t have said it and I have got to just hold up my hands and say I am sorry for anybody that is offended,’ he said — although he did try to defend himself by suggesting that his behaviour could actually have been worse. ‘It wasn’t like I was shouting at two people of the same sex kissing,’ he said.

Later in December, McGregor was also present when a brawl broke out in a South Dublin pub, where a man in his 50s was punched twice in the face. The man is an associate of the Kinahan cartel but is not involved in criminality himself, and it is understoo