Conor McGregor addresses the last five years ahead of UFC 329
Will Despart
Host · Writer
LAS VEGAS — Given how Conor McGregor typically approached his fight week press duties throughout his career, nobody would have blamed you if you expected a little bit more fireworks out of his appearance at UFC 329 media day on Wednesday.
However, as McGregor prepares to enter the Octagon for the first time in five years to face Max Holloway on Saturday, there’s a noticeable difference in his demeanor. He’s clearly been humbled by the trials and setbacks he’s faced in recent years, however many of them have been self-inflicted, and at the very least is more appreciative than he has been in the past about the opportunity to fight in the UFC. At the same time, he still does possess the bravado that made him such a global superstar to begin with.
While there wasn't the typical drama of a McGregor press conference in terms of trash-talking his opponent or the rest of the sport in general, there were several eye-opening moments where McGregor delved into the personal and professional descent that has darkened his reputation throughout the last decade. One of those moments occurred when McGregor’s highly-publicized sexual assault case was brought up, to which the fighter offered an impassioned plea of innocence.
“I'm an innocent man, and I'll stand for my innocence until the day I go out,” McGregor said. “That is still a situation where I fight. There's a reason it didn't go where it went and it went to a civil trial. It is what it is. It stings deep. I continue to fight. I know the truth, and I know that lying lips are an abomination to the Lord. I know that anything done in darkness will soon come to light, and I trust in God that it's coming, you best believe it's coming, and I look very very forward to the day.”
McGregor also admitted that he fell into the cycle of fame, money and partying that so many athletes and specifically fighters have been affected by. He explained how the establishment of his Irish whiskey brand, Proper Twelve, coincided with his freefall.
“I didn't drink heavily, if at all, in that time of my life,” McGregor said. “I was an athlete at the top of my game. The next thing you know, there's thousands upon thousands of bottles in my garage. Sell this Conor, okay, I'd leave my property with two bottles under my arm, and that was it. I was caught … God gave me these lessons, that's it, I was trapped and caught, and it is what it is. I trust in God, I trust in my journey, and I trust in the truth. If the world is against the truth, then I am against the world.”
McGregor is set to face Holloway at 170 pounds, which is a weight that Holloway has never fought at before. While that reality provides somewhat of a buffer to the fact that McGregor is coming off a five-year hiatus, the consensus among just about every fighter on the undercard was that they were grateful to be fighting on a McGregor card but that they felt Holloway was going to be too much to overcome after such a long absence. The old McGregor may have taken offense to that sentiment, but this version understands that he’s the one who has to shut people up this time.
“There’s nothing better than proving people wrong,” McGregor said. “People are entitled to their opinion. Some are valid. There's some questions, timeout, injury, lifestyle, yadda yadda yadda. I know … We're going to go in on Saturday night and shut them all up again. The business is on the rise, the money is coming in, so get into this game baby, we’re rocking and rolling, "The Mac" is back."
