Two years sober for a drug addict is celebrated. An A-student becoming a C-student is a fall from grace. Social and professional stratification reinforce standards in society. Thus, we all have different expectations of different people. We never tell tradesmen to look up to intellectuals because their paths to success are different. For some reason, westerners have chosen athletes as role models for our youth. Basketball players have to wear suits. Fighters must be gracious during fight promotion (even if their nickname is ‘The Notorious”) but somehow foster enough mutual animosity to make us want to watch them.
This needs to stop. Fighters should not expected to be role models just because fighters like Joe Frazier were exceptionally honorable men. Conor was never a role model nor did he ask to be.
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In 2017 there was a wave of clickbait criticism about Conor’s character. Before he fought Floyd Mayweather, many new faces emerged to say Conor was a racist and more. Ridiculous headlines labeled Conor (a white European) a racist for attacking the religious faith of Khabib (another white European).
Make no mistake, most westerners do not raise their children to be fighters. We pressure kids here to be lawyers, doctors and business professionals. As if that were not jaded enough, we criticize athletes like Conor for being a “bad role model”. Who is he a bad role model for, the kids we are forcing to be white-collar professionals? Yes, I’m sure ‘The Notorious’ punching that old man in the Irish bar is jeopardizing the chance for parents to brag that their children is in an Ivy League school.
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If any child grows up to punch old people, their parents need to take a long look at themselves. Parents, realize you are expecting Andy Griffith-behavior from a prize fighter nicknamed ‘The Notorious’! It does not make you look very smart.
Conor McGregor told Floyd, “dance for me”, and he called Khabib’s wife a “towel”. That’s shocking to most because that’s the only stuff they heard about. Conor was ‘The Notorious’ before 2013. And let me firmly say that no one cares about the Irish forsaking Conor now after they were taking out loans to see him fight in the states just a few years ago.
No one was complaining when he was snatching people’s belts, in fact, the Irish were on camera cheering! That might be the most disrespectful thing I have ever seen at a MMA press conference. Just because you weren’t paying attention before doesn’t mean you get to complain now. It’s unfair to hold him to a standard of behavior that is inconsistent with his history and his profession.
