Conor McGregor has become a clown show.
He is a puppet master of the careful art of polarization, which has sadly become apparent as a must if you want to be on top of the pay-per-view food chain. But like all clowns, he entertains masses of the feeble-minded comparable to the children under the big tent eager for the pale painted faces and red noses.
The irony is that McGregor, for all his earning potential and intentional shenanigans, has become a silly figure who both insults and captivates an audience which views him as a fearless leader in a new era, Lord of the Flies style. But the reality is that McGregor is a sociopath who believes his special brand of privilege places him above common decency and reproach for the violent criminal behavior he unleashed against unsuspecting victims in the Barclays Center.
UFC 229: Khabib vs McGregor Press Conference Highlights
Watch the highlights from the UFC 229 Press Conference, featuring Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor from Radio City Music Hall. Subscribe to get all the latest UFC content: http://bit.ly/2uJRzRR Experience UFC live with UFC FIGHT PASS, the digital subscription service of the UFC.
Sound the alarm for the ‘MAGA’ faithful who will espouse a diatribe on McGregor’s effective marketing schtick. Yet for many, this has become a Jekyll and Hyde show with more of an Amos and Andy feel.
The only thing worse than McGregor’s actual script of antagonization is the doting way that he is coddled by UFC President Dana White. While attending the UFC 229 press conference yesterday at Radio City Music Hall, the reflective tone among the press row after the viewing of the former UFC champion Matt Hughes’ powerful documentary was shattered when “Mystic Mac” stormed the dais.
Replete with his version of a custom zoot suit and toting a bottle of his Proper 12 whiskey to both brandish and share a swig from with White, McGregor “owned” the room like only he can. A true character that relies on audacious audience reactions to his raucous statements, McGregor did what no person of color could ever do: bust down some brown liquor in front of white folks and be lauded for its brazenness.
Imagine if UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley threw on down a bottle of Henny while taunting his opponent with protestations of their in-cage ability, screaming “Hennything is possible” in a drunk uncle styled cadence. You can’t imagine this because it wouldn’t be tolerated.
This is the crux of the McGregor problem.
From his weird World Cup dealings with Vladimir Putin to his disrespectful chanting of “As-salamu alaykum” towards his Islamic Russian opponent Khabib Nurmagomedov (26-0), McGregor has always utilized the Donald Trump method of self-aggrandizement as his biggest weapon. But do his fans realize their Stan-ish ways are actually making them less smart? Most likely, no.
UFC 229: Khabib vs McGregor Press Conference Recap
Things got testy between UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and former two-time titleholder Conor McGregor during a raucous press conference at Radio City Music Hall for UFC 229, happening on 10/6/18 on Pay Per View. Subscribe to get all the latest UFC content: http://bit.ly/2uJRzRR Experience UFC live with UFC FIGHT PASS, the digital subscription service of the UFC.
As one of a mere 10 or so working people of color in press row, “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair schtick was comical, but we all winced at certain points of McGregor’s display of demagoguery. What should disgust all is that the 30-year-old McGregor (21-3) has signed a new six-fight deal with the promotion. As part of the deal, McGregors new whiskey brand, Proper No. 12, will get a spot on the mat whenever he fights. Again, insert anybody black and Henny and you quickly realize that for them, Hennything is definitely not possible.
The UFC, for a variety of reasons, has lacked that signature star who can sell large numbers of pay-per-views since the $4 billion dollar sale to WME-IMG, someone who commands the worldwide media attention shareholders hope for. Ronda Rousey retired after back-to-back losses, Jon Jones will be eligible to fight again as early as October but has no fight date in the near future, and McGregor hasnt fought in the UFC since winning the lightweight title from Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205 in New York on Nov. 12, 2016.
“The Notorious” enjoys these moments where he can control the narrative with pure unadulterated privilege, one which results in over a dozen NYC cops, SWAT members and police dogs being deployed inside and outside Radio City Music Hall and a normal press pool evolves into a yellow journalism feast of fandom. McGregor opens your mind to the realms that rachetness can take you if you are white, privileged, and a financial cash cow for a company. But as we all enjoy this new iteration of the circus just remember one thing, anyone can both wild out and shuck and jive, regardless of color, but only a certain “type” can get away with it.
The McGregor circus arrived yesterday in the Big Apple, and although it’s a different type of big top, I still hate clowns.
