A striking video making waves across social media has captured what many observers are calling a reversal of fortune for Conor McGregor in his homeland.
When asked a simple question – “Who’s the one Irish person you wish wasn’t Irish?” – multiple young Dublin residents gave the same answer: the former UFC champion himself.
The street interviews paint a picture of public sentiment. One after another, those questioned expressed their disdain for McGregor with remarkable consistency. “Conor McGregor because he’s a f**king clown,” one person declared, while others echoed similar sentiments.
“Conor McGregor, lads, get him out,” another insisted. The pattern continued throughout the footage, with respondent after respondent naming the MMA star unprompted.
This grassroots rejection mirrors a broader institutional rebuke McGregor recently received when he announced presidential ambitions. A Sky News survey of Irish parliamentarians revealed not a single member of the Oireachtas who responded – 134 out of 234 members – would support his candidacy.
Politicians used scathing language to describe the fighter, with one senator stating, “I consider him to be a tacky, moronic vulgarian. I would never consider him even remotely a suitable person for a nomination.”
Another TD was even more direct in their assessment: “He’s a misogynist and a thug. On behalf of the women of Ireland he can f*** off.”
The contrast with McGregor’s earlier years could hardly be starker. During his meteoric rise through UFC ranks, the Dubliner became an international symbol of Irish pride and determination, famously declaring, “We’re not here to take part, we’re here to take over.” His success as a two-division champion in 2016 made him a household name, and many Irish fans initially embraced his confident persona.
But that goodwill has clearly evaporated. When a travel vlogger recently visited Dublin and asked locals about McGregor, one young person stated bluntly: “I wouldn’t go to see Conor McGregor, he’s a ra**st,” adding that this view was widely shared in the community. The local suggested that wealth and behavior had transformed McGregor significantly from his earlier days.
Even fellow MMA figures have distanced themselves from McGregor’s current trajectory. UFC fighter Ilia Topuria offered a measured but critical assessment: “That guy is so sick. He has some problems in his inside world. At the same time, when he was starting in mixed martial arts, he was an idol for all of us. He was a great fighter, represented great values. He did a lot for the sport, but at some point, he betrayed all the values that put him in that point.”
The street interviews and political survey together suggest McGregor has become what some Irish commentators are calling a “GUBU scandal level” of unpopular – a reference to a particularly notorious chapter in Irish political history. His competitive career has also faltered since his peak, with multiple losses following his boxing match against Floyd Mayweather in 2017, including a defeat to Khabib Nurmagomedov.
McGregor is currently involved with BKFC, which he partially owns, and has discussed competing in bare-knuckle competition, though many remain skeptical about these plans materializing.
