Conor McGregor’s Legacy Is On The Line At UFC 246
Back in 2016, all the world could talk about was a scrappy fighter from Ireland. A guy who walked the walk and could certainly talk the talk. Conor McGregor was the golden boy of the UFC; he won the UFC Lightweight and Featherweight Championships and put on two legendary performances against Nate Diaz. “The Notorious One” was untouchable and for a moment, had everyone kissing his feet.
Flash forward to 2020, and this appears to be the final stand for the once-heralded fighter.
Following numerous legal issues, including currently being under investigation for two sexual assault allegations, McGregor (21–4) returns to the octagon at UFC 246. Claiming to be a new man, he faces someone as popular as him in Donald Cerrone. The two are both tough fighters, with Cerrone (36–13, 1NC) fighting seven times from 2018–2019. There appears to be a lot of respect between one another, but how much of that is genuine?
Getting past “Cowboy” Cerrone is a way for McGregor to get back in the limelight in a positive way. McGregor fight weeks used to be something that caused his fans to run wild. Now? It took until this week, fight week, for fans to be truly tuned in. Could it be because Cerrone isn’t Tony Ferguson or that McGregor hasn’t acted out in any way? The latter is entirely plausible, as this is a subdued version of the man who caused chaos in the weeks leading to a fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov, and who always left a mess following every press conference.
This “new” Conor is far different from the man we knew a few months ago, or even a few years ago. Since becoming a double champion and beating Nate Diaz, this is the McGregor timeline:
- Fought Floyd Mayweather in a boxing bout that drew 4.3 million PPV buys in North America.
- Stormed the cage at Bellator 187 to support teammate Charlie Ward following a win against John Redmond. The fight wasn’t technically over and McGregor wasn’t in Ward’s corner. He ended up attacking referee Marc Goddard and Ward.
- Threw a dolly at a bus, meant for Khabib. He caused damage inside the Barclays Center, including injuring fighters meant to compete at UFC 223. McGregor pleaded no contest to a count of disorderly conduct and was sued by a variety of fighters.
- McGregor smashed a man’s phone on the ground while out in Miami.
- Via TMZ, McGregor punched an old man at a bar in Ireland, pleading guilty to assault.
A majority of these controversies, including his time facing Khabib leading up to UFC 229, can be contributed to alcohol and the power of money. In an interview with Severe MMA (via MMA Junkie), McGregor talked about how he was heading down a path similar to Mike Tyson, who at one point was one of the most popular boxers of all time. Tyson was convicted of rape and spent a few years in prison. He also was sent away for assault, and later filed for bankruptcy.
“Now here’s the thing: Yeah, definitely Mike Tyson has had his ups and his downs, and his money management has kind of led him to be in a position he shouldn’t have really been in,” McGregor stated in the interview. “But if you look at Mike now, he’s got his money, he’s got his weed thing going, he’s well for himself. But, yeah, I don’t want to go down that path. I didn’t want to go down that path, and maybe I was heading down that path a little bit, so just listening to myself, listening to the close people around me that I respect, and just making amends with things.”
As we have seen during fight week, McGregor looks in good spirits. He hasn’t had any alcohol in months, looks disciplined and according to Coach John Kavanagh, is the best version of McGregor he has ever seen.
McGregor is set to make about $3 million for UFC 246, a card UFC President Dana White is hoping does triple the numbers normal UFC cards usually produce. If he were to win, McGregor has a long list of goals, including a boxing world title and fights against some of MMA’s greatest. Without the win, none of this comes true and the aura of one of the most marketable fighters in UFC history fades away.
While somewhat different, there is nothing like a Conor McGregor fight week. With a new attitude and a mindset, this is the most important fight of his career. Is “Mystic Mac” truly back?
