Anatomy of a fighter's fall
05 December 2024
Internationally-renowned MMA fighter Conor McGregor was found guilty of rape two weeks ago. As he was tried in a civil court, he was fined €250,000 in damages - pennies, for someone who claimed to have made more than €600 million in a 2023 interview. Quickly enough, however, it became evident that the verdict had affected the fighter's reputation. Video-game Hitman's developer announced McGregor's character would be removed, and major retailers, wholesalers and pub chains have decided to stop selling alcohol brands associated with the fighter.
Conor McGregor has undergone multiple controversies since 2017, from driving offences and racism allegations to cases of physical and sexual assault. He has also become a revered figure of the far-right, even gathering support on various occasions from the likes of Elon Musk and Andrew Tate. The verdict is a given opportunity for his sponsors to end an increasingly problematic relationship.
 | Ciara Boulman Conor McGregor used to be an easy figure to latch on to as he was extremely popular in Ireland and the UK, especially if your target audience was young men. Over time, the Irish patriotism that had made him so well-known took an ethno-nationalist turn. Since 2022, McGregor has openly supported Irish anti-immigration protests, but the Dublin riots were a turning-point for his public image. His public support of the rioters was widely mediatised, shedding light on his ties with the far-right. He was even investigated due to suspicions that several of his media posts had incited to violence that day. |
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