Former UFC Champ: Conor McGregor ‘Set Fighters Back’ With Outburst

Always considered the biggest and best character in MMA, Conor McGregor continued the cross the line in his strange post-Mayweather era when he threw a dolly through the window of a bus containing Khabib Nurmagomedov at a UFC 223 media day.

It’s understandably lead to a vast amount of debate of how much the UFC should punish him, as he was arraigned on both felony and misdemeanor charges and will next appear in court on June 14. Most believe he won’t be punished by his bosses at the UFC because they need him to come back for a huge fight, however, and in truth, his court case will likely be only a small punishment for his first offense in the U.S.

But in the views of some, McGregor has already done enough to sully the reputation of MMA fighters overall, and one such fighter is former UFC champion Frank Mir. Speaking up on the all-out-chaos in a recent interview with FanSided, Mir said that as MMA’s biggest name, McGregor undid years of hard work put in by he and his fellow MMA pioneers with just one act:

“Seeing Conor do that, on a personal note, it bugs me,” said Mir. “The guys like me, Randy Couture, Chuck Liddell, Matt Hughes, we fought for years to not be considered a thug, and now you’re going to drag us back in. You are the most famous guy in our sport, the richest guy, the most notable character … People judge us [fighters] by our most notable face.”

That behavior won’t result in a positive outcome according to Mir, who said impressionable young people would be following his example and see he had gained fame and fortune by breaking the law. Because of his overall influence on others, Mir thinks it crucial that the UFC gives him a significant punishment:

“The problem is we have all these young guys and women watching him,” Mir said. “Like anything in life, you sit there and go ‘How did that guy get those shoes? Well, I’m doing this. But how did I get those shoes? Well, you have to follow this.’ We’re a pack mentality.

“So with Conor being the most famous face and you give him a slap on the wrist, how do you deter other guys going down this path?”

A good question to be certain, and it would seem McGregor is truly above the law if he is able to avoid any reprimanding from the UFC. He somehow avoided any for his arguably illegal outburst at a Bellator event in his native Dublin, Ireland, last year where he pushed referee Marc Goddard and slapped a security guard who told him to get off the cage.

But this time he’s actually in real legal trouble, and even though he can clearly afford an attorney to get his charges reduced to possibly next to nothing, there’s only so much more the UFC can do put up with before doing something.

As for Mir, he’ll face legendary Pride FC heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko at Bellator 198 as part of their heavyweight grand prix.

Does the former champion have a good point, and will the UFC ever draw a line in the sand with McGregor?