I’m honestly surprised Conor is still able to attract fans.
That’s because half of the people on the internet still gets hard for a rich Irish chaos gremlin who treats the sport like his own person reality Tv show.
100% abuse, rape
100% drugs
100% doping
0% fighting skills
0% role model athlete profile
But he didn’t get convicted on the sexual assault case he faced back then.
I think it was settled, so there was no concrete proof that he did it.
As for the drugs aspect, i don’t think anyone is disputing that.
Everybody knows Conor struggled with heavy drug use and his chaotic personal behavior that he has displayed in different forms.
His PED usage was evident too.
The only difference is that he has never been the face of a systematic doping scandal before, the way other fighters like Jon Jones have.
I don’t agree with your take on his fighting skills though.
Prime Conor was an elite fighter with a precise left hand and he landed shots with almost perfect timing, he knew how to manage distance and still had the ability to finish off opponents.
Sadly this version of him largely disappeared a few years ago and what remains of him now is just a part time celebrity who still commands attention simply because of his name value and not because of any current competitive merit.
Could Conor be the asshole of this sport?
Well calling him the asshole of the sport is actually a fair take in the behavioral sense. Dude’s been one of the most consistently toxic high profile figure in the MMA for a long time.
But there’s no denying that there are other problematic characters in the sports too; Conor just happens to be the most visible and commercially protected one among them.
If he’d been a little luckier and pulled off a major surprise against Holloway, I’m sure we’d be hearing talk of a belt match for him...
I wouldn’t be surprised if this was the case and especially with the current UFC model, I’d say this speculation is a realistic one.
They organized fights based on which fighter can sell more tickets, pay per views and generate more attention for them, not based on competitive merit.
A big name with residual star power can still get fast tracked toward title contention or major fights even though he has a thin recent resume, especially if they think the match up would be a very marketable one and will profit them greatly.
We really do come to appreciate the importance of decentralization even more in situations like this. In centralized organizations, concepts like fair, objective evaluation, and impartiality are always replaced by major doubts...
I’m telling you that in a more fragmented or independent scene, a fighter like Conor with his recent record and off cage history, he would have a hard time staying relevant purely based off of his fighting ability and terms.