self

Hopefully while Conor McGregor was spending the night in police custody, he was doing a lot of much needed self reflection. Whatever his beef with Khabib, it is in no way shape or form justifies or excuses his behaviour in Brooklyn. McGregor could have just settled it in the cage, he is or maybe was a prizefighter, he could have got paid for it as well. Instead his way of dealing with it, will end up costing him. Combat sports is littered with stories of fighters who earn millions and then end up broke, McGregor a notoriously big spender, and will now face multiple lawsuits as a result of his quite staggering actions, are we looking at an all too familiar tale, will the penny drop before it’s too late. McGregor would be well advised to offer a full, unreserved and sincere apology, and offer to compensate all the fighters affected. An admission that his behaviour was not acceptable wouldn’t go amiss, and a willingness to change. This is when McGregor needs his true friends, his representatives and his family to tell him what he needs to hear, but the change needs to come from the man himself. The UFC have quite sensibly not issued a knee jerk punishment, but it will be interesting what punishment they hand out to their biggest ever star. Not dealing with him in the past has fed his ego, the incident in Bellator when he stormed the cage and pushed the referee is a prime example. The punishment dished out was removal from a card he was never on in the first place. Artem Lobov could potentially be cut from the UFC for his involvement in the fracas, but surely if Lobov is cut, McGregor must surely follow. Any other fighter would be cut, but this is Conor McGregor, the biggest ever star in UFC history, will the UFC really cut him, they almost certainly should, but will they. I think a suspension is the more likely punishment, the UFC have to show that they will not tolerate this kind of behaviour, they haven’t dealt with him in the past, surely they have to now. If any good is to come out of this whole disgraceful incident, punishment aside, it would be McGregor showing remorse and changing, but will his over inflated ego let him. The Jon Jones comparisons are predictable and repetitive, but also correct. Jones despite his achievements which are many, could have achieved more, I have a feeling even now McGregor fits into that category also. McGregor has to change and has time to, but the clock is ticking on the peak years on his career, his next move needs to be the right one.