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What's the story?
In recent weeks Conor McGregor's stock has plummeted. The Irishman was once the people's favourite and recognised as the man who single-handedly elevated the sport of mixed martial arts to a new stratospheric level.
However, after a series of high profile run-ins with the law, people's feelings towards the former two-weight champion seems to be souring - especially those of the highly respected coach Firas Zahabi, who recently made the following comments on McGregor's recent attack on a local man in a Dublin pub.
“I don’t care what anybody says. It is indefensible. There is no defence to this, except this guy is a pathetic, sorry excuse for a human being. What a disgusting display. I don’t care how much money you have, I don’t care how famous you are in the world. If this is the type of person you are, your value is zero. Your value is zero.”
In case you didn't know...
Firas Zahabi is a high profile and highly respected coach in the world of MMA working with a number of top level fighters including Georges St-Pierre and Rory MacDonald in the TriStar gym in Montreal.
McGregor recently admitted he made a huge mistake in this most recent high-profile mishap but that hasn't stopped the string of high profile dissenters speaking out about his actions.
The heart of the matter
Although Zahabi didn't hold back on his opinions on McGregor's character, he seemed to be most upset about the damage done to the reputation of mixed martial arts.
“This is an embarrassment to MMA. This is an embarrassment to us all. When the media or people from other sports say, ‘Oh, MMA people are animals. They’re savage, they’re violent, they’re the barbarians of sports.’ It’s going to be harder for us to defend.”
What's next?
Conor McGregor has a long way to go before he wins back the adoration of his peers, unfortunately the accumulation of public relations disasters has really taken it's toll on The Notorious' reputation in MMA.
The first step on McGregor's path to redemption would be to finally accept a fight in the UFC, having been nearly completely absent for the best part of the last 3 years.
