Irish UFC interim featherweight champion champion Conor McGregor has issued an expletive-filled response after he was criticised for wearing a remembrance poppy.
The poppy is widely worn in the run-up to November 11’s Remembrance Day to commemorate those members of the armed forces killed in the line of duty since the First World War.
However, Dublin-born McGregor has been questioned on social media for sporting the symbol, given its associations with the British Army and their historic conflicts with the Irish.
In a remarkable Facebook post McGregor responded to his critics, defending his right to wear a poppy while also seeming to condemn the Queen.
His outburst drew a startling reaction—it has been liked over 40,000 times—to which he then responded with another expletive-filled tweet.
Both posts can be seen below (warning: NSFW):
The UFC champion is not the first Irish sportsman to cause controversy because of the poppy.
Republic of Ireland footballer James McClean came under fire while at Sunderland for refusing to wear a matchday shirt embroidered with a poppy.
When he again opted against displaying the symbol during his time at Wigan Athletic, he penned a letter to Latics chairman Dave Whelan explaining his decision, which was published on the club’s website:
I have complete respect for those who fought and died in both World Wars…and if the Poppy was a symbol only for the lost souls of World War I and II I would wear one…[But] for me to wear a poppy would be as much a gesture of disrespect for the innocent people who lost their lives in the Troubles – and Bloody Sunday especially – as I have in the past been accused of disrespecting the victims of WWI and WWII.
MMA fighter McGregor has caused quite a furore with his response, but it is somewhat unsurprising given the politics surrounding the symbol and the reaction McClean has drawn in the past.
The 27-year-old will take on UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo in a title-unification clash at UFC 194 on December 12 in Las Vegas.
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