I’m a fan of Conor McGregor, but anyone has to admit that he’s handled himself terribly over these last few years and it’s no different for me. The bus incident would have landed practically anybody else in jail. That chaos caused fights to be cancelled, which is just terrible. That alone is a very trashy thing to be responsible for and the MMA world has let him know for it.
When Khabib submitted McGregor at UFC 229, there were plenty who were happy about. The McGregor hatred had been building until that point and was fully unleashed in the aftermath of 229. Again, this is all understandable considering McGregor talked a TON of shit before that fight. This isn’t new, but the Khabib build-up had a different feel. McGregor got personal with Khabib and it didn’t work on him like it did with Aldo. Honestly, it all seemed as though McGregor was trying to “play” a version of himself rather than just let things flow naturally.
By the time the video emerged of McGregor punching an old man in a bar, it was safe to say that Conor had a fair share of haters. Media, fighters and casual fans have all lined up to rip McGregor over the last couple years and once again, I get it.
Criticizing McGregor for his trash talk, lack of respect and straight up shitty conduct is one thing, but talking down his achievements as a fighter is where McGregor haters become worse than the fan boys.
For one, Conor “McTapper” is thrown around a-lot by the haters. They talk as if Conor McGregor is the only fighter in the history of the UFC to get submitted. Not only is he one of many to do that, McGregor tapped to the most prolific wrestler in the history of the sport. Poirier tapped, Belfort tapped, Holloway tapped, Pettis tapped, Sonnen tapped. So many great UFC fighters have been submitted, yet Conor McGregor is the only one who is relentlessly mocked for it.
In addition to the tapping criticism, McGregor haters talk about him as if the former king of the sport is a washed up scrub who can barely hold on to a roster spot. He’s being accused of ducking Justin Gaethje, who has lost to Eddie Alvarez and Dustin Poirier. McGregor has of course beaten them both. It’s just assumed, without evidence, that all Conor McGregor does is drink whiskey until 3 AM. He’s accused of taking an easy fight with Cowboy despite matches between two fighters coming off loses being normal; not to mention the fact that Conor is going up to 170 for this bout.
It’s old, and any neutral party can see that McGregor’s haters have become just as annoying as his die-hard fan boys, if not more. They’re motivated purely by emotion and pre-conceived narratives rather than analyzing what’s in front of them.
We get it; McGregor has handled himself poorly and tarnished his image over the last few years. It remains to be seen whether he will ever lift a belt again, or even be the fighter he once was, but to talk about the first double champ this way is just lazy. To say that a fighter who cleared out featherweight, dominated Eddie Alvarez for the lightweight belt and has racked up wins against several top fighters over the years is a scrub is just plain stupid. It’s like the crowd that says Tom Brady isn’t good.
Hate him all you want, but just stop with the intellectual dishonesty and bad faith arguments. The second emotions get in the way of analysis, you become a clown, and the McGregor hate wagon is fully entrenched in clown world.
I mean, can we just see what happens before we start predicting anything else? 170 against Cowboy isn’t nearly the cake walk for McGregor it’s being made out to be, given the lay off. It shows he wants a challenge and is a clear indicator of McGregor’s desire to fight Masvidal, which is certainly ambitious. There is no easy path forward and lightweight or welter and it is very likely he loses to Masvidal were they to face off.
So can the McGregor hate wagon take it down just a notch? McGregor has been a douche but to talk down past achievements is just lame and shows lack of argument. Find a new slant folks, that’s all I ask.