On St Patrick’s day 2018, I met Conor McGregor in the box of the Dublin parade. Luckily my friend’s mother was the head organiser of the parade so we got tickets to the box and when I went to buy a drink, I ended up having a conversation with Conor himself. At the time I was conflicted. He’s a controversial person who’s done many stupid things in the public eye but even though at this point his worst was still yet to come, he was still a controversial figure. He looked right at me when we stood next to each other so I said hello and when he said hello back, it just hit me that I spoke to the man who fought in the most viewed fight maybe of all time against Mayweather. I watched that fight live and cheered him on and it all came back to me.
I just blurted out that he was one hell of a fighter and he shook my hand and said “I appreciate that, you seem like a good kid”. I was so used to his persona in the media that I was shocked at how polite he was. We then had a fairly long conversation about boxing and I couldn’t believe that I was having such a conversation with an Irishman who took on Floyd Mayweather. We spoke for another few minutes until he returned to his seat and family but when I returned to my seat, I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. Since that day he really hasn’t helped himself in terms of his public image. In all honesty, he significantly worsened it and I seriously do not approve of his rash actions but I will never in my life forget that day. When I had a conversation and a laugh with one of the most famous men in the world.