The church of Trump-ism keeps growing daily. And if you didn’t recognize one of its adherents the first time, he recently made a move to leave no doubt of his allegiances.
“The Notorious” Conor McGregor recently went full on “Donald” when he called Russian president Vladimir Putin “one of the greatest leaders of our time” in an Instagram post. McGregor attended last Sunday’s World Cup final in Russia, at the invitation of Putin.
Today I was invited to the World Cup final as a guest of Russian President Vladimir Putin. This man is one of the greatest leaders of our time and I was honored to attend such a landmark event alongside him. Today was an honor for me Mr. Putin. Thank you and congratulations on an amazing World Cup. !
3m Likes, 47.7k Comments – Conor McGregor Official (@thenotoriousmma) on Instagram: “Today I was invited to the World Cup final as a guest of Russian President Vladimir Putin. This…”
“Today I was invited to the World Cup final as a guest of Russian President Vladimir Putin. This man is one of the greatest leaders of our time and I was honored to attend such a landmark event alongside him. Today was an honor for me Mr. Putin. Thank you and congratulations on an amazing World Cup. “
McGregor, who like Trump is no stranger to controversy, has forced many of his fans to walk back their love and devotion due to his erratic and dangerous behavior. The most recent was his melee at the Barclays Center that cancelled the fight of his teammate Artem Lobov and injured many fighters on the card.
McGregor was arraigned and is still facing punishment from the State of New York for his actions. Before then, in Dublin, Ireland, McGregor stormed the cage to celebrate the victory of one of his teammates, putting both combatants at risk and violently pushing referee Marc Goddard.
The white privilege displayed by the Irishman is not born from an American vantage point, but nevertheless emboldened by the crude success of Trump and the base that supports him. During the Mayweather vs. McGregor World Tour last year, there were many issues with McGregor, from his disrespect of boxing broadcast executives like Stephen Espinoza to his major disrespect of black womanhood.
Shawn Coss on Twitter
@TheNotoriousMMA You may be my favorite fighter of all time but no,man, Putin is not a great leader. Unless you consider leading by fear and murder is considered great. Then yeah I guess he’s great at murder.
Many of McGregor’s fans used monkey emoji’s profusely, and he was accused of leading or at least not excoriating a race-baiting campaign to sustain his pay-per-view sales. It worked and McGregor made $100 million for the fight, forcing him to rethink his MMA career and solidifying him as a global superstar.
Late last year, TMZ caught up with McGregor and asked him about the possibility of delving into politics, to which he said, Maybe, who knows! I know theyre shaking in their boots, anyway!
Is McGregor’s acceptance of Putin’s overture a signal to his deeper political ties and ambition?
That is yet to be seen. But while his white privilege is truly peacocking on the highest levels, McGregor is showing that his popularity is bigger than the safety of the world.
If he were another race, McGregor would be vilified like Dennis Rodman and Kanye West were by their fans and the world. Instead, the encounter is nothing more than a footnote that proves to most MMA fans the reach of the sport.
Vladimir Putin is clearly puppeteering white privilege like a global Gepetto and McGregor is the latest victim of the Putin selfie.
However, as MMA grows in popularity, fighters become wrestlers, and the UFC still has yet to address its racial issue, McGregor only expands an already gaping hole in the world of MMA.
