O’Connell Street in Dublin, Ireland, is one of the world’s iconic thruways. Reborn in the late 1990s, it’s a beautiful testament to Ireland itself, celebrating the past while also looking forward to a promising future.
Lining the street are statues, representing great Irishmen from years gone by. Most people look at these great men and reminisce, recalling the Eire’s many contributions to the world.
But Conor McGregor is not “most people.” The budding UFC star, who headlines the UFC’s card on Fox Sports 1 Sunday against Dennis Siver, walks O’Connell Street, the signature pedestrian area of his hometown, and sees not just forgotten icons and the dust of history—he sees opportunity.
“I look at that and now I want a statue,” he told Bleacher Report in an exclusive interview. “Now I can’t wait to get my own statue up there…we will bring Jose Aldo over to Dublin, we will fill out a 90,000-seat football stadium in Croke Park.
“Croke Park is also a stadium we fought for our independence in. The British invaded the pitch in a tank and opened fire on the players and the fans. So it is a place that has seen blood and seen battle as well. So we will bring Jose Aldo over…and we will do battle once more. And I believe I will raise that belt in my home country. And I will demand a statue post-fight.”
While that may reek of delusional grandeur, McGregor is not alone in seeing a very bright future for himself. Suffice to say, the UFC is plenty excited about its new star, elevating him from the prelims to the main event in record time. He has an easy charisma and a gift for trash talk unsurpassed in MMA history.
It’s hard to compare him to anyone, because there is no prologue. The closest you can come is Chael Sonnen, but a version of Chael without the ironic detachment. Sonnen was performing, removed ever so slightly from his sometimes buffoonish material. He winked at his audience, letting us all know he was okay with the fact we were in on the act.
McGregor has the same gilded tongue, but his bravado is rooted in authenticity. When Sonnen was telling the world that he’d never lost a round, despite 14 career losses, it was understood he was putting us on. When McGregor says he’s the best fighter in the world, you get the sense that he really believes it.
“It’s more truth-talking,” McGregor explained. “I don’t speak trash. I speak truth. Occasionally I might throw in a little insult here or there, but this is the Irish way. I speak the truth. If I feel something is the way it is, I will say it. I will let it be known. Some people can’t handle the truth. That’s not my problem.”
That’s a subtle distinction—but an important one.
“There’s not really a disrespectful undertone to it,” Fox Sports 1 announcer Jon Anik said. “It is refreshing that someone can speak the truth. Even though there is some ego and some arrogance, I really think he’s speaking from the heart.”
It goes a long way towards explaining why the UFC, normally an exceedingly cautious promotion, has put its collective pedal to the metal. President Dana White calls him the biggest star the promotion has ever seen, outpacing Georges St-Pierre, Chuck Liddell and even Brock Lesnar. UFC owner Lorenzo Fertitta, not usually as prone to hyperbole, compared the young Irishman to Muhammad Ali.
He isn’t alone.
“I was on an Irish talk show, and the presenter compared me to Muhammad Ali. I could not take something like that. He is up there. He is a god. He done what he done in a hostile time. For someone to consider that, because I certainly would not consider that, that is an honor to me,” McGregor said. “… He changed the face, not only of this game, but the face of the world. He was outspoken. He fought for what he believed in. He was a legend and a hero. I look up to him…he was a hero of mine, the way he carried himself.”
McGregor, being McGregor, has an Ali story of his own, one that started with the kind of street fight that defined his youth.
“I slipped a punch. And I shuffled my shoulders and said ‘Muhammad Ali.’ And threw a shot,” McGregor remembered, recalling the fight as vividly as any of his professional prize fights. “I done the Ali shuffle! I’m only 11 years old and did the Ali shuffle and threw a left hook.”
It was a tale that began in glory and ended with McGregor being stomped by five of his opponents friends. But he tells it with a smile. He seems to do most things that way.
Whether he’s ready or not, McGregor is here. No longer the future of the sport, at 26, he’s the present. He’s one of five fighters signed to an individual deal with Reebok, a sign of where he stands as well as the heights UFC hopes he’s able to climb.
Even the fighter himself, no stranger to singing his own praises in a captivating lilt that makes you stop what you’re doing and take note, seems taken aback by the ferocity of not only the UFC’s love but the high regard of his growing legion of fans.
While his out-of-nowhere success has, of course, led to no small amount of jealousy among his peers, McGregor is blissfully unconcerned—if not quite above it all, at least amused by it.
“I don’t really care. The whole division can hate me. The whole roster can hate me. The whole of America can hate me. I only need one American to love me,” McGregor said, a grin creeping onto his face. “And that’s Mr. Benjamin Franklin. As long as he loves me, I am good.”
McGregor‘s trek towards the title continues Sunday against Siver in Boston. While competition in the city, with the New England Patriots playing a birth in the Super Bowl that same evening, is fierce, McGregor has made the UFC competitive with the region’s top sports team. Some historians say there are more than 70 million people worldwide tracing their heritage back to Ireland. On certain weekends, it feels like most of them are in Boston.
“I lived the first 27 years of my life in that metro area,” Anik said. “And man, you go downtown, and it’s Irish pub after Irish pub. There’s a huge Irish contingent there. It’s an obvious tie-in with the city and the population. There’s a kindred spirit and an excitement for Irish fighters.”
That goes a long way towards explaining why, the last time McGregor was in town, the roof nearly exploded off of the TD Arena. And that was when he was a mere preliminary fighter, competing for the first time in America. Now that he’s made his mark as a burgeoning international star? Ear plugs might be something worth considering for those in the arena that night.
“Of course I was taken back by the Boston people the first time I walked out,” McGregor said. “It was phenomenal. I didn’t really understand then how much the Boston people hold their Irish heritage across their hearts. I was blown away by that, and that is why I’m back here. That’s why I’m excited and back here in phenomenal condition. I’m ready to put on a show for these people who have supported me from the early days. It’s a beautiful thing.”
The building blocks are there for McGregor to excel in the Octagon. He has an unorthodox stand-up style, a combination of karate and Western boxing that defies the common consensus that Muay Thai is the best base for an MMA striking game. But despite many people’s’ insistence that fighting is all about technique and a collection of nifty moves, McGregor‘s footwork and timing are only half the story.
Fighting, at the highest level, isn’t just about speed and strength. It’s about inquisition. Questions are asked of fighters in the cage. How they respond, whether they can meet any test of their resolve with courage and fighting spirit, is the at the heart of what makes an athlete special.
“(Fighting is) Ultimately trying to become comfortable in an uncomfortable situations. That was my thought frame at an early age. That is why, I feel, I am able to do what I am doing,” McGregor said. “I’m able to make bold claims. To look my opponent dead in the eye and tell him how I’m going to beat him. And then go out and do it under all those lights in the sold-out arenas with millions of people watching.
“There’s a lot of world champions in the gym. But in there, under those lights, people crumble. For me, it’s another day of that uncomfortable feeling that I’ve become so comfortable with.”
So far, McGregor has had all the answers. Against a middling crop of UFC featherweights, he’s looked like the kind of fighter who warrants the outlandish praise. But what happens when they are posed by a higher caliber of foe?
We’ve seen him venture into the Top 10 once, and make short work of Dustin Poirier. Anik, for his part, is confident that the man who has all the answers in the media will have them in the cage against Siver as well.
“We know he has great mic skills. We know he has great self-belief. But I think a lot of people wonder if he’s also an elite fighter. I think he is,” Anik said. “He’s on the brink of superstardom. I’m a believer. I have been since early on. He thrives under pressure—and there’s going to be a whole batch of it Sunday night.”
Conor McGregor fights Dennis Siver in the main event Sunday at the TD Arena in Boston. The main card begins at 10 P.M. ET on Fox Sports 1.
Jonathan Snowden is Bleacher Report’s Lead Combat Sports Writer. All quotes were acquired first hand. Special thanks to Duane Finley and Pete Tenney for additional reportage.
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