Conor McGregor’s puppet show

You may or may not be a fan of UFC or any MMA sport but one thing is for sure, you have heard the name Conor McGregor blast through your TVs, radios and social media apps.

I myself became bored with the lack of fluency and excitement of the UFC, especially after the likes of Tito Ortiz, GSP and Chuck Liddell left the scene. I missed the ongoing slaughter of the rivalries and pumped up builds to the fights. Yes there are many great fighters that enter the octagon in the present day, but sometimes, just sometimes a little entertainment goes a long way.

Conor McGregor quickly rose through the organisations of the MMA world, having only one amateur fight he was propelled into the professional ranks and sliced through opponents like he was burning carbs. A force to be reckoned with, it was only a matter of time before Dana White and Co took notice of such a fighter as McGregor.

In 2013 we saw the UFC give birth without any pain relief to a 24 year old Irish fighter who by then was chanted to the name of “Notorious”. McGregor did not need any build up to stamp his name into the faces of all who watched. Any eyes that were laid onto him in the octagon were scarred for life with the sheer brilliance of what they were witnessing.

Time and time again he turned well reputable fighters into piles of skin and bones. You really need to watch a fight with McGregor in it to truly appreciate his techniques, from his stance to his slash like jabs, there is no stopping this mans stand up game.

McGregor ripped through the likes of Dustin Poirier and Dennis Siver, not to mention the handful of what McGregor would call “bums” that he fought in the cage before those men. After the Siver fight in early 2015 things started to become very interesting when McGregor’s eyes focused onto the featherweight champion Jose Aldo, a well respected Brazilian fighter. McGregor wanted his blood and to smash his cranium off the canvas. Unfortunately Aldo became ‘unavailable’ for a while which left Conor to face off against an All American wrestler Chad Mendes…McGregor beat him…obviously.

Then the real entertainment came into play, Conor McGregor was able to play with Jose Aldo’s head for many months. I don’t know if it was because of the language barrier but Aldo stayed very quiet during the build up to their fight, this didn’t stop McGregor who became very efficient at using insults in Aldo’s native Brazilian tongue.

In December 2015 it was time to witness what everyone thought was going to be an epic battle of two warriors in the octagon…the cheese on my rustlers burger only just started to melt in the microwave when it was all over. 13 seconds it took for Aldo to run straight into the striking left fist of McGregor. Exactly how McGregor himself ‘predicted’. In the space of 2 years in the organisation Conor McGregor had made his mark and became the UFC Featherweight Champion.

Then the craziness really started! McGregor chose to face off against an opponent of a bigger weight class to try and accomplish the title of a duel weight champion. Unfortunately the lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos broke his foot in training, putting McGregor’s dreams of accomplishing this feat on hold. Instead the UFC decided to call in Nate Diaz to face off against McGregor meaning Conor had to yet again move up another weight class to fight his opponent at welterweight. McGregor’s transformation to welterweight was incredible and an aspiration to many who were out there trying to achieve their own body transformation goals. Sadly for McGregor he lost to Diaz in a second round submission even though he was dominating Diaz in the first with his stand up game. McGregor admitted while humble in defeat that his endurance wasn’t good enough at that time to fight at welterweight with all that his body had endured transforming for the fight.

McGregor rightfully wanted to go back to his weight division to defend his title…the UFC had different plans. They had arranged for Conor to face off yet again with Diaz at the UFC 200 event. While accepting this challenge McGregor has recently pulled out claiming he has retired at a young age…do not be fooled people, a legend like McGregor doesn’t disappear into the shadows as quick as that. Apparently the UFC were more concerned about promotion than the fighters actually preparing themselves for the fight and Conor wasn’t having any of it. Although there has been words from McGregor that he is back, the UFC have decided to drop him and Diaz from the main card.

We will see in weeks to come if Conor McGregor now 27 sneaks back into that main slot, after all he is probably the most popular and money making fighter the UFC has. In today’s Ultimate Fighting Championship it is McGregor’s show, he pulls in a main event worthy crowd just for a weigh in, he makes other fighters wealthy from fighting him and he has been the face of UFC promotions for the last couple of years including the latest EA sports console game (where it is believed Jose Aldo can still be defeated in 13 seconds by a virtual McGregor).

The UFC can not turn its back or consider shunning McGregor because of his defiance. It is this same defiance that got him here and re lit a spark in the industry of octagon fighting, he is the puppet master of this business. If this is a publicity stunt between both sides then fair play, if not then I know all fans of the UFC are waiting for McGregor to enter the octagon again and support him fully on his recent views and opinions regarding the UFC.

Love him or hate him, McGregor is keeping this sport alive and exciting and I’m sure we are going to see a lot more opponents fall to the skill of the “Notorious”.