“If Conor was black? Man, shut that down,” Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal suggests that race plays a factor in Conor McGregor’s popularity.
Race was brought into Conor McGregor’s success as a UFC superstar last week when Floyd Mayweather suggested that the Irishman gets away with trash talk because of his skin colour.
“They say he talks a lot of trash and people praise him for it, but when I did it, they say I’m cocky and arrogant,” Mayweather said. “So biased. Like I said before, all I’m saying is this: I ain’t racist at all, but I’m telling you racism still exists.”
“The Notorious” blasted Mayweather for his comments on Facebook and warned him to never bring race into the discussion again: “Floyd Mayweather, don’t ever bring race into my success again. I am an Irishman. My people have been oppressed our entire existence. And still very much are. I understand the feeling of prejudice. It is a feeling that is deep in my blood.”
Just when the issue looked to be put to rest, Muhammed King Mo Lawal questioned McGregor’s popularity on a recent MMA Roasted podcast.
King Mo mentioned the issue after reflecting on what he believed were racist comments issued by the NAC’s Pat Lundvall in 2012. Lundvall asked if the former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion could read or speak English during his disciplinary hearing with the commission after testing positive for Drostanolone.
At 1:13:18 of the MMA Roasted podcast, Lawal says “If Conor was black? Man, shut that down,” implying that the Dubliner wouldn’t have such a following if he was black.
The 35-year-old last fought at Rizin FF’s New Year’s heavyweight Grand Prix where he knocked out Jiri Prochazka in the final to win the tournament.