Former two division UFC champion Conor McGregor has been on the wrong side of some controversial incidents throughout his professional MMA career.
If there is one lesson that McGregor is starting to learn, it is that he needs to stop taking the bait and to not get involved in more controversial situations.
“In that Miami trip, I was preparing for battle,” McGregor said on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show (via Nolan King of MMA Junkie). “I brought my mother out. It was her 60th birthday. I brought the whole family out. We rent out and then the situation arose. I need to just stop reacting to the bait. People are trying to bait me into things. Am I the fish? Or am I the whale? I must be calm. I must be calm. I must be zen. I must lead by example. There’s so many people looking up to me. How can I react in this way? I need to get a hold of this.”
McGregor has been accused of sexual assault, destroying a fan’s cellphone and attacking a bar patron in 2019 alone.
If there is one thing McGregor wants fans to know, it is that he is learning from all of those past experiences.
“Like I said, I’m working really hard to do this,” McGregor said. “I’m taking the necessary steps and I’ve been on a great trajectory. Even before the Miami incident, I was on a great trajectory. And then I had a little slip and I’m back up. I’m trying my hardest. I swear on my life, I’m trying my hardest. It’s been, what? Five months since that one? That’s it. I just have to take what comes and move on. I’ve learned from every single experience in my life and try to do right for the people who want me to do right… But how can they back me in certain situations? I must understand that and grow as a man and make amends.”
The former two division champion hasn’t competed since UFC 229, which also ended in some controversy involving himself and UFC Lightweight Champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.
