The Notorious (2014)

As we have no UFC show to keep us entertained this weekend – how very dare they! I got around to reviewing Notorious, a documentary screened on RTE in Ireland, charting the rise of Irish UFC fighter Conor ‘The Notorious’ McGregor, following the preparation for his second UFC fight against Max Holloway, at UFC Fight Night 26, August 2013.

This is huge when you actually stop and think about it. RTE, Ireland’s premier television channel, showed this on prime-time TV. Can you imagine the BBC showing a documentary on say, Michael Bisping, at 8pm on a Friday evening? It just wouldn’t happen in the UK, which is where Ireland differ from us, they love their sport and build their stars, and rightfully so. Fortunately, I’m a frequent visitor to the Emerald Isle and managed to catch this must-see, very inspiring show,

The documentary begins with a clip saying how McGregor was collecting social welfare before he got picked up by the UFC. It then moves onto a clip of his latest fight with Max Holloway in Boston and some of his post-fight interview. Now the documentary really gets going, we see a hugely poignant clip of Conor comparing putting on his UFC gloves to wearing the Ireland jersey, or getting to play for your favourite football team. He is living the dream, his dream, and he knows it. All through the documentary it’s evident that Conor is an eternal optimist, he always believed he would fight in the UFC, not just as a competitor, but as UFC champion one day. There’s a clip of him training in John Kavanagh’s gym where he tells teammates this. He has masses of self belief and loves to read inspirational quotes for motivation.

It’s clear that family play a huge part in Conors life. They help keep him grounded. The charismatic Dubliner tells a lovely story of how he carries his deceased grandfathers hat everywhere with him, as he keeps it in his training bag. They show his family life; his love for his dog, his girlfriend preparing his meal. Just a normal, down to earth, Irish family. There’s a humorous clip of his parents discussing his unorthodox career, his mother who supports him unconditionally, his father who was initially against cage fighting and had to go and watch a fight – to see for himself just how good his son is. Of course he’s now eating humble pie and lots of it! You can see that McGregor get his sense of humour from his dad who comes across as pretty hilarious and was actually asked for his own autograph and photos at one stage! The fact that the featherweight cannot wait to get home from Vegas to see his friends and family speaks volumes.

What I really love about this documentary is that it gives MMA fans and non-fans alike a glimpse of how much hard work, training and dedication goes into being a mixed martial artist. Don’t get me wrong here, it’s not one of those shows that’s full of training shots or anything, there’s a great mix of family life, travel, personal appearances, media and a glimpse of the high life. McGregor gets to stay in a gorgeous hotel with sensational views of Vegas. It charts the differences between his two UFC fights. The first, when he’s a relatively unknown fighter coming from Cage Warriors (he was their Champion in two weight classes,) sensationally knocking out Marcus Brimage at UFC on Fuel TV 9, to his second fight where he’s beginning to get loads of media attention – which actually proves to distract from his training time – one of the cons of being a recognised UFC star. Here we see him indulge his love of designer clothes – Mcgregor is often seen in full suits complete with dickie bow and shades, to choosing jewellery and flying first class.

I did chuckle when we see McGregor channel his inner Rickie Hatton saying “I look forward to the day when I’m older and I can eat what I want and become a fat guy, a happy fat guy.” He loves training but hates dieting.

McGregor may talk the talk and walk the walk but at the end of the day, he’s a very likeable, down to earth Irishman, who cannot believe his good fortune. He’s still like a kid at Christmas when he’s talking about MMA and UFC. The fact that UFC president Dana White seems to of taken a shine to Conor will help him enormously. Like fellow Europeans, Dan Hardy and Michael Bisping, it helps when the boss is a fan of your work. Of course Conors individuality and quirkiness helps and he’s won over a whole nation of Irish MMA fans.

Unfortunately McGregor suffered a knee ligament injury during his fight with Max Holloway which has kept him out of action for eight months currently. His knee popped out during round two of the three round fight that McGregor won by decision. He tore his ACL and MCL. Initially he thought he’d only be side-lined for 4-6 weeks. I know McGregor was hoping to be on the Manchester show in the October. The prognosis was a ten month lay-off and he’s hoping to fight again on July 19, in his hometown, in Dublin’s O2 Arena, possibly against Cole Miller, although this hasn’t been confirmed as yet. I’m sure he’ll be high up on the card, if he doesn’t main event, and after all his recent publicity, I’d expect it to be a nightmare getting tickets for this show!

At the end of the documentary you see the ever confident McGregor say how he has an answer for every type of fighter, I’m not sure Frankie Edgar would agree…