Conor McGregor’s recent actions outside of the cage have not gone unnoticed.
The Irishman’s bus destruction in Brooklyn prior to UFC 223 last month has been talked about for weeks now, with most mixed martial arts (MMA) community members trashing the UFC superstar for going ape shit with no regard for the safety of others. After seeing all the footage of McGregor’s hunting party for rival Khabib Nurmagomedov, it’s hard to disagree.
That said, some are still willing to give “Notorious” a pass for his New York antics, which ultimately led to McGregor flying back to Ireland with a felony charge under his cap.
MMA legend Bas Rutten is one of those people willing to turn the page on the UFC 223 debacle, as he recently shed light on McGregor’s unique situation as a global superstar.
“We are not in Conor McGregor’s shoes. You know? People can shout what they want, they have no clue what goes on,” Rutten said during a recent interview with Submission Radio (shown above). “I think once people realize that you have 50 million dollars – he gets mail all day long from people with sick babies and sick kids and my grandma and everybody wants him to give money and so on.”
“I mean, he doesn’t only have money, he is super famous on top of that. I know the stupid stuff I did when I was 28 – I didn’t do that, okay, but you know, he has a group around him and he was already angry going in because they wanted to strip him of the title and he’s angry and now the partner, his friends, start saying, ‘hey, maybe we should throw something against them’. Like, ‘yeah,’ everybody starts agreeing. Yeah, you get caught up in the whole moment and you start doing it.”
We all understand that McGregor’s position is not an easy one. He’s young, extremely successful at his craft, just cashed in a career payday opposite Floyd Mayweather Jr., and is one of the most recognizable athletes in the world no matter where he goes.
But does that give him the ability to do what he did last month in Brooklyn? While Rutten agrees that McGregor needs to pay for what he did, he explains that maybe fight fans should give “Notorious” the benefit of the doubt.
“That’s why I said when I was with Joe Rogan, I said, guys, we should give him a pass. And people online, they were like, is he crazy? I’m not saying that (you excuse everything),” Rutten explained. “I’m saying, yes, he’s going to have to pay for what he did, he goes to court, he has to do all that. I’m not saying that (he doesn’t do those things). Of course, he has to – and I said that on Joe Rogan as well – but give him a pass as a fan. Don’t kick the guy while he’s down. Don’t throw him under the bus. He did so much good for MMA. He just needs to find his way in this world.”
“I hope they just … give him a pass, don’t spit him out yet,” he added. “Let him see if he cleans up. I mean, you give Jon Jones a lot of passes. And me too, I love Jon Jones, I want to see him back. He’s such a talent that is gone and I want to see him fight. This could be a guy that could literally go undefeated his entire life. So yeah, I would love to see a guy like that back.”
Whether you agree with Rutten or not, he probably isn’t the only MMA figure who believes McGregor should be forgiven for his actions. But it really is difficult to look past this incident, especially since the Irishman has been making so much noise everywhere other than inside the Octagon.
What say you, Maniacs? Should we give McGregor a pass for this one?
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