Conor McGregor KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/Getty Images

Ahead of UFC 246 Return, Conor McGregor Is Sending Mixed Signals

Scott Harris

All the right things were said. At first. 

Conor McGregor is rededicated to MMA. The transgressions of the past are lessons learned. After he beats Donald Cerrone in the main event of Saturday's UFC 246, the goal is to fight twice more in 2020. It was The Comeback. 

McGregor (21-4) drove the point home with a juicy confession in his interview earlier this week with Ariel Helwani on ESPN's UFC 246 preview show. McGregor had been "drinkin all bleedin' fight week" before his 2018 loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov. (As a reminder, that is also his most recent cage fight.) But he's a changed man now. 

"I knew things I should have been doing, and I knew things I shouldn't have been doing, and I still did them and didn't do them, if you get me," he told Helwani, adding that it has been "three to four months" since his last drink. "But now I'm listening to myself and follow my internal instruction...I've made mistakes and I'm man enough to admit them and correct them."

That's great. But then things took a bit of a turn. I mean, no one got hurt or arrested or anything, so that's good, but McGregor hijacked his own narrative. Foregoing the redemption angle sprawling before him like a red carpet, McGregor bragged that he would receive $80 million for Saturday's scrap with Cerrone (36-13 (1)). Then he said he wanted to fight Floyd Mayweather again and win a world boxing title. I thought there was a UFC event this weekend?

Excuse me if I take all of that with a grain or six of salt. But even if it's true, throwing your own business into the streets seems like an odd strategy. It's not like he needed to get people's attention. Rising from the ashes of perp walks and bar assaults a newly humbled man, more ready than ever to go get his belt back? That's easy money. Why the not-exactly-ingratiating detour?

That goes double given that McGregor is still facing two separate sexual assault allegations in his native Ireland, both of which he has denied.

Elsewhere in the past year, McGregor was arrested in March after CCTV footage showed him smashing a man's phone. He was charged with strong-arm robbery and criminal mischief, both felonies, but settled a civil lawsuit with the victim, who then stopped co-operating with police, and the charges were dropped. Later in the year, McGregor pleaded guilty to suckerpunching an elderly man in April when the man refused a shot of McGregor's awful, awful whiskey.

So it doesn't feel like the right time to play games if you're McGregor. He's a superstar no matter what. Keep your head down, get your first win in two-plus years, take whatever your surely lavish payday might be, thank the fans for coming, start negotiations for the next one.

We all know this will be immaterial when the old cage door closes behind him Saturday. The talking one does in the cage speaks louder than any soundbite. With a pay-per-view audience that will likely top the million mark, the platform can't get much higher. The odds (-330 for McGregor as of Wednesday morning) clearly indicate that the public thinks he's going to take full advantage.

McGregor (left) knocked out Jose Aldo in 2015. John Locher/Associated Press

That said, McGregor needs to do more than win. That is merely what is supposed to happen. But to make the kind of statement he surely wants to make, McGregor will need something memorable, a balletic performance that hearkens back to his days on top of the fighting world. One encouraging sign on that front for Conor fans is McGregor coach John Kavanagh's recent prediction of a "beautiful destruction" to Helwani (h/t Severe MMA). 

When he's on, McGregor's left hand is as dangerous a weapon as there is in the sport. That straight left is made more lethal by McGregor's use of angles and commitment to setting it up with the right jab or a kick. His nimbleness and quickness allow him to apply pressure moving forward while maintaining the ability to jump out of harm's way when necessary. McGregor's pressure could be huge against Cerrone, who has historically struggled against similar strategies.

Donald Cerrone (left) Kamil Krzaczynski/Associated Press

Perhaps the pivotal weakness for McGregor in this fight (the ground isn't going to come into this one) is his propensity for getting hit. He shares the hittability gene with Cerrone. Oh, right, his opponent! Yes, Cerrone is effectively an afterthought—when was the last time that was the case?—but if you put your mind to it, is it really so difficult to conjure up the image of a jubilant shirtless man in a Stetson trying not to spill Budweiser on his family?

At age 36 and with an even 50 fights under his belt heading into Saturday, Cowboy has installed himself as gatekeeper for the lightweight division. This one's up at welterweight, of course, but either way, Cerrone is good for a show and a post-fight bonus, and Saturday will be no different. In an exchange, one of Cerrone's muay thai knees could very well lace through. Leg kicks could help his cause, too.

(One caveat for Cowboy: Here's hoping he's telling the truth and not hiding an injury.)

Effective violence in the cage is the sport's loudest megaphone, but fight week is the appetizer. Until the moment arrives, we're left to consume the media blitz. And with his wider situation in mind, McGregor isn't taking full advantage. In a world that exists beyond cliches, there is indeed such a thing as bad publicity, and it's not something McGregor can afford, particularly when it's self-inflicted and particularly when you're apparently attempting to make yourself a billionaire some time in the next four years. Is this the look of a man getting down to business?

McGregor currently has nothing to support his comeback but words. The ones he's chosen so far could come back to haunt him if he can't tell a new story Saturday.

              

Scott Harris writes about MMA and other topics for Bleacher Report.

   

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