Irish MMA icon Conor McGregor recently shared intriguing details about his community service, which involved cleaning a Brooklyn church. This unexpected turn of events was part of McGregor’s sentence following the notorious dolly incident that occurred in April 2018.
During a media event for UFC 223, McGregor and his entourage made headlines for storming a bus carrying multiple competitors. Believing that the then-lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov was on board, McGregor impulsively launched a dolly into one of the windows. This shattered the glass and caused injuries to several athletes.
Consequently, he faced three counts of assault and one count of criminal mischief. After reaching a plea deal, McGregor was ordered to serve five days of community service and attend anger management classes.
Nearly a year later, Conor McGregor fulfilled the requirements of his sentence by diligently sweeping the floors at a church in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. Revealing his perspective on this experience in his recently-released Netflix documentary, McGregor managed to transform the seemingly mundane task into a remarkably positive journey.
McGregor said: “I’m coming across mad stuff in this church, just things on the wall. I’ve just had the trippiest bleeding buzz of my life in there with that reverend, never experienced anything like that in my life. It’s just a mad buzz being around people that talk that way and think that way out loud, people who constantly push to be that way and think out loud.”
Clive Neil Sr. is the pastor at Bedford Central Church. In an interview with the New York Times, he shed light on the specific duties McGregor undertook during his community service at the church.
He told, “He was doing physical work; vacuuming, mopping, moving boxes, moving supplies, putting out the garbage, and so forth. He was quite patient in rubbing down the brass, polishing with spray and a cloth. He has enough strength in his muscles to do that.”
The opportunity to step away from the chaotic life of a high-profile combat sports superstar appeared to have a profound impact on Conor McGregor. It allowed him to appreciate the value of hard work, find solace in a tranquil environment, and harness the positive energy from those around him.
McGregor’s time in the church helped him gain a fresh perspective on his journey and aspirations. The Irishman even admitted feeling a tinge of sadness as his time at the church drew to a close.
McGregor stated: “In a chaotic life for me, it’s been a welcome escape to come here, somewhere calm, and feed off the positive energy that comes off yourself and the people here. It made me focus in on the hard work that I have ahead of me and I’m very excited by that. This has been really good, I’m a little bit sad I have to go.”