I’m sure many of you took time out of your weekend — October 6th or 7th depending on where you are in the world — to watch the Conor McGregor vs Khabib Nurmagomedov UFC fight. While the result is not what I had hoped for — myself bring from Ireland — it was a fair outcome with Khabib taking the win.
As good as the fight was — especially for Khabib fans — the main focus has been on the events that occurred immediately after. When all hell broke loose. Upon submitting McGregor, Khabib then scaled the fence and launched an attack on Connors team. While Khabib’s teammates jumped into the cage and attacked McGregor. It was bedlam.
‘And although the aftermath was terrible for the reputation of MMA, I believe the attacks were justified ‘
During the lead up to the fight, there was a lot of trash talk. One of the things that has propelled McGregor into the limelight and made him one of the most recognized people in the world is his ability to beat his opponents mentally before they even set foot in the octagon. Check out the video below.
But, in the build-up to this particular fight things got a lot more personal. There were insults towards family members, religion and also each others culture. Which provoked the events after the fight to occur. This now begs the question
‘Has trash talking in combat sports gone to far?’
I personally think it has to a degree. As much as the back and forward insults are great to promote a fight — getting the public who perhaps aren’t hardcore fight fans interested. I believe that fights can be promoted without the trash talk and still pull large crowds.
Being charismatic, having an exciting fight style and finishing a fight inside the distance is a sure fire way of getting the public’s attention, purchasing tickets and tuning in. Putting on a show that not only entertains the real fight fans but also has the casual viewer intrigued.
However, I do see the appeal of wanting to bad mouth your opponent before a fight. Saying outrageous things to grab peoples attention and spark their interest. Fighters that do it and do it well usually become hugely popular and successful. Muhammad Ali — the godfather of trash talking and a poet — Mike Tyson, Chael Sonnen, The Rock and of course more recently Conor McGregor.
In my opinion, when the trash talk becomes more than a promotional tool and becomes personal, that is when it goes too far. Attacking a fighters family, religion or culture is uncalled for. This is their job after all. They fight to earn a living. This kind of disrespect would never be acceptable in any other profession.
Conclusion
Will the events that happened after Khabib vs McGregor change how some fighters promote their fights? I doubt it.
It would be nice though if the insults and bad mouthing stayed just between the fighters, leaving family and religion out of it. Get inside the opponents head but also show the respect that every fighter deserves. Give the fans the show they want to see and do the talking in the ring/cage.
I recently watched the press conference below. Both these guys have a huge fan base. Will draw a huge crowd to their upcoming bout. Will put on a fight not to miss. And do not feel the need to talk sh*t about or to each other. Check it out.
Thank you for being a part of my writing journey. I appreciate you taking the time to read my article. I hope you enjoyed it.
