I know that the world of Martial Arts consists of way more than just the UFC. Martial Arts training, styles, spirituality, and any other aspect of Martial Arts have always been readily discussed by me in the past. The reason I’m bringing all of this up is that I plan on writing about someone in the UFC for the second week in a row.
The news is huge.
Conor McGregor, who is (arguably) of sound mind and body has decided to retire. Everyone thought it was a joke at first but it turns out he is quite serious. I know he is hated by more people than actually like him. I can say that I am a fan. Why? I’m a fan of his striking skills. He is on another level when it comes to his open-minded pure martial arts approach to striking. He evolved with the sport and became one of the most prolific fighters of all time in just a short period of time.
I don’t know about his cup, but his mouth sure runneth over and that is why he is hated.
When someone is not liked, he is still really popular with the money people. There are two reasons you watch a fight, one is to watch a fighter you like win, the other would be the converse… to watch a fighter you don’t like, lose. Conor made people a lot of money and was smarter than a lot of his predecessors by demanding more money for himself. It is, after all, his body receiving the damage.
With Conor retiring, and not being well liked, a lot of people probably don’t know his story, so I’ll tell it. Conor wasn’t always a loud-mouth irish scrapper. Conor was actually a humble fighter that believed in the purity of Martial Arts and set out to put Martial Arts back into Mixed Martial Arts. Karate, Muay Thai, and Tae Kwon Do were all something Conor dabbled in. I can tell you first hand, that even when you are not in the “big leagues” of mixed martial arts, you get a lot of attention from people who like to watch you fight. There are fans at the underground level that are dedicated. Conor was the best around on the Irish circuit and he felt like he wasn’t going to go anywhere big with it. He was being skipped by the big promotions because he was from Ireland and they believed the level of competition wasn’t up to par with the best in the world. Conor was actually in camp for his last fight and was going to get a normal job after the fight. The UFC had received so many fan requests and emails from people who wanted them to put Conor in the “big show”. They finally gave in and made the call. Conor maintained his social and private life which wasn’t easy to do. He stayed faithful to his girlfriend and his family and made his name the right way.
Conor is an honorable guy. In my opinion, he could have easily turned down the fight with Nate Diaz knowing he was at a huge disadvantage size-wise, preparation-wise, and grappling-wise. He took the fight anyway. People can say whatever they want but until you are in those shoes you don’t know how you would react. Most men in his position avoid fights like that. Conor is a true warrior.
The fact that he has millions of haters just proves his worth as a fighter..
Retiring young? What is wrong with that by the way? Too many fighters fight way past their prime. It is a sad sight to see someone like Roy Jones Jr. or Andre Arlovski fighting when they are just a shadow of what they used to be. I say go out on top, save your brain and your body by getting out of the game while you are still in one piece. I say leave Conor alone, if he chooses to retire, what business is it of mine, yours, or Dana White’s? Well it is big business to Dana White, but he doesn’t care about anything except the profit margin.
