Conor McGregor is probably the greatest trash talker in the history of mixed martial arts. There is no one else since the days of Chael Sonnen, who can get under someone's skin the way McGregor does. He knows exactly what buttons to press to get a reaction out of his opponents.
McGregor might be a master of mind games but sometimes he loses himself in his revelry. There are multiple instances of The Notorious One fully living up to his nickname by blurting out obscene and disgusting things that crossed the line.
While he may be well-loved for his antics, there is no denying that there is an undercurrent of pure malice involved in his insults that go beyond just trying to rattle an opponent and gain a mental advantage going into a fight.
So, without further ado, here are five times Conor McGregor crossed the line with his insults:
#5 Confrontation with Tyron Woodley
UFC 205 was a historic card for the UFC, as the promotion made its New York debut. It was one hell of a stacked card headlined by Conor McGregor vs. Eddie Alvarez for the UFC Lightweight Title. There was also an extremely intriguing bout for the UFC Welterweight Title between Tyron Woodley and Stephen Thompson.
One day before the event – at the weigh-ins – McGregor for some reason decided to pick a bone with Woodley. When The Chosen One said, “What’s up?”, while passing The Notorious One, McGregor provocatively stared at the bigger man. This would’ve been fine but then he took to Twitter to further stoke the flames.
The Irishman called Woodley a “Twitter bi**h” and where Woodley comes from calling anyone a bi**ch is not something that is done lightly. It was a stupid move to pull the day before the biggest fight of both men’s careers.
This is probably the lightest infraction of McGregor’s on this list, but he nevertheless crossed a line by taking a shot at Woodley.
#4 Insulting Rafael dos Anjos' Brazilian heritage
Before Conor McGregor took on Nate Diaz, he was originally supposed to fight Rafael dos Anjos for the UFC Lightweight Title. An unfortunate foot injury meant that fight couldn't take place and thus we saw the rise of Diaz as he choked out McGregor in a shocking upset.
This entry in the list comes from the time before dos Anjos' injury and during the build up to their fight which never happened. This was McGregor's first fight since winning against Jose Aldo to pick up the UFC Featherweight Title and he went after dos Anjos the same way he went after Aldo - with words.
McGregor constantly questioned dos Anjos' love for his country since RDA shifted to the United States in order to provide a better life for his family. The Irishman used this to get under RDA's skin and knowing dos Anjos' pride in his heritage, this was something that went well past the lines of decency.
#3 Taking shots at Eddie Alvarez's family
There was a lot of bad blood in the build to Conor McGregor's history making fight against Eddie Alvarez and both men crossed the line on a number of occasions. Alvarez took swipes at the rumours that McGregor had cheated on his long-time girlfriend, Dee Devlin, while The Irishman took a number of shots at Alvarez’s family – specifically his wife and kids.
As you can see from this video below, Alvarez was clearly unhappy with the McGregor operated with the press:
At the end of the day, it mattered precious little as McGregor absolutely decimated Alvarez but this would’ve been more enjoyable if they kept each other’s family out of it, one would imagine.
#2 Calling Dennis Siver a Nazi
This one goes way way way past the line. In his earlier days, as he was rising up the ranks in the UFC, Conor McGregor was slated to fight German, Dennis Siver, at a UFC Fight Night event.
This is one of the first glimpses that people around the world got of McGregor’s tendency to go off the rails and say things which are well beyond the realms of offensive. Taking to Twitter, McGregor decided, for some explicable reason, to called Siver a Nazi – the single worst insult you can make against a German.
This was so offensive that McGregor actually came out and apologised for it. Imagine that, McGregor apologising for something he said. In the end, Siver would get nowhere near the revenge he would have undoubtedly dream of, as The Notorious One took him out to continue on the path to superstardom.
#1 Everything he said to Jose Aldo
Jose Aldo is a veteran and an icon of the Octagon.
The man was undefeated for 10 years before he fell to the deadly left fist of Conor McGregor in just 13 seconds. This shock result can be traced all the way back to the numerous press conferences and insults that McGregor threw Aldo’s way in the build up the fight.
Seriously, just check out this video and see how brutal McGregor is:
This was the fight that made McGregor a legitimate star but it was his ability to get Aldo so riled up with numerous insults, which crossed the line that enabled him to earn that earth-shattering result which would change the landscape of MMA forever.
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