Here’s a Thought: Cancel Conor McGregor
For the love of all that is good and pure, I don’t know what to make of Conor McGregor. I really don’t.
If you had told me that there was a UFC fighter who talked a big game and backed it up by knocking out opponents in seconds, I’d want to catch every fight on their schedule. But if you’d spun a tale about an athlete who has blurred the line between provocation and sacrilege, who’s shattered the windows of a bus just to settle a score, I’d take a hard pass on that human being.
What if they’re one and the same person? That, quite frankly, is a puzzle. When we pick up the pieces of the Notorious One, what picture do we form?
The McGregor Paradox
In this era of cancel culture, the fact that McGregor’s still headlining UFC events is just as jarring as his left hook. Then again, why would Dana White pass up the opportunity to showcase a proven draw, a guy who fills 20,000-seat arenas simply by opening his mouth?
I’d use the age-old adage of a highway car wreck to describe McGregor’s irresistible allure. But then again, highway car wrecks have never really threatened the moral development of young spectators.
Yet, here we are, just days away from McGregor starring in a UFC main event for the 12th time in his career. This Sunday (Manila time), the fighter who’ll be headlining UFC 329 with McGregor happens to be his antithesis.
The Anti-McGregor
Look up “Max Holloway arrests” or “Max Holloway charges” on your search engine, and you’ll come up with a big fat zero. The most controversial thing he’s done in the UFC might be failing to make weight for an April 2018 title fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov. (To be fair, the native of Honolulu, Hawaii took this fight with less than a week’s notice, after Nurmagomedov’s original opponent Tony Ferguson pulled out due to a knee injury).
That’s a “lowlight” in Holloway’s career, but the 16-year pro fighter has had his fair share of highs. Holding a 27-9-0 record (with 12 wins coming by way of knockout), Holloway is a former UFC featherweight champion who successfully defended his title on three occasions. He’s tied for fifth longest winning streak in UFC history, having matched the run of 13 consecutive victories pulled off by Nurmagomedov, Jon Jones, Georges St-Pierre, and Demetrious Johnson.
Talk about elite company. In some other ways, the 35-year-old stands alone. No UFC fighter has landed more significant strikes than Holloway, nor has any featherweight matched his number of wins, finishes, and KO victories. On top of that, he’s won Performance of the Night five times and Fight of the Night seven times.
Of course, if we’re talking resumes, McGregor has a hell of a trophy case too. He’s one of just 11 fighters to win a UFC title in multiple divisions, and he was the very first to hold two world championships (featherweight and lightweight) at the same time. He’s a two-time Fight of the Night winner, and he bagged Performance of the night seven times. (Oh, and McGregor holds the distinction of winning the most consecutive post-fight bonuses in the history of the promotion. Sweet.)
A Rivalry Revisited
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that McGregor and Holloway have crossed paths before. Back in August 2013, these two fighters were just getting started in the UFC: It was only McGregor’s second bout in the promotion, while it was Holloway’s sixth. In this three-round skirmish, McGregor confounded Holloway with his southpaw style and his array of kicks, even dominating the Hawaiian on the mat in rounds 2 and 3.
McGregor ended up scoring a unanimous decision to win this featherweight encounter. Which, by the way, aired on the preliminary card of a UFC Fight Night on Fox Sports 1. My, how times have changed.
They say you’re only as good as your last fight, and if we’re looking at the most recent entries on these two athletes’ fight logs, it becomes crystal clear that they’re far removed from their August 2013 encounter. Their careers were on the rise then, but over the past six years, both fighters have lost their last three bouts. In the case of Holloway, he lost the UFC “BMF” title via unanimous decision to Charles Oliveira at UFC 326 just four months ago.
As for McGregor, the last time fans saw him in action, he was clutching his fractured leg that had caused a doctor stoppage in his rubber match with Dustin Poirier. That leg was emblematic of McGregor’s career at that point: broken until further notice, keeping him grounded and unable to throw around his hubris for the world to see.
The Biggest Fight Yet
A vengeful Holloway will be McGregor’s scheduled opponent at UFC 329, but the toughest battle for the Notorious One will be against himself. After a five-year hiatus from the octagon, can McGregor get back to his winning ways and salvage his MMA legacy?
If McGregor loses this weekend, he risks getting labelled a has-been whose glory days were marred by a flurry of legal troubles. Including, but not limited to, dangerous driving, strong-armed robbery, and sexual assault.
But, if his hand gets raised in victory, fight fans will harken back to his heyday: those resounding finishes of Chad Mendes and Dennis Siver, that spectacular 13-second knockout of Jose Aldo, that redemption win in the rematch with Nate Diaz.
Should McGregor come out on top, that post-fight interview would be an attraction in and of itself. In front of a live mic, inside the octagon that he’s called home since 2013, the Irishman will have decisions to make.
He can gloat over Holloway for winning a second time.
He can brashly call out his next opponent and drop NSFW bombs in the process.
Or, he can talk about what (or Who) got him back on track.
“I forgive myself for disgracing the position that God put me in,” McGregor told Ariel Helwani last month. “When you hit rock bottom, and there’s nothing else there but God…then, a divine coincidence is just everything…I keep being shown it, and I’m going all in on it.”
I was thinking of cancelling Conor McGregor. But something tells me I shouldn’t do it.
I really, really don’t know what to make of him. Do you?
Catch Conor McGregor vs. Max Holloway 2 live on UFC Fight Pass this Sunday (Manila time). The event is scheduled to start at 9:00am.
Stay tuned to ALL-STAR for live, round-by-round coverage of the McGregor vs. Holloway main event.
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