When Conor McGregor is on the mic, nobody is safe. Not his opponents, not the world’s best boxers, not even the stars of pro wrestling world.
This latter group in particular has been on the receiving end of some serious McGregor heat over the last few weeks. In the buildup to UFC 202, the Irishman referred to pro wrestlers as “messed up p*ssies.” He also offered up his thoughts on John Cena, one of the pro wrestling world’s biggest stars.
“John Cena,” McGregor said. “He’s 40. He’s 40 years of age. He’s walking around in a luminous orange t-shirt and a headband talking about how nobody can see him. We can see him right there. He’s a big, fat, 40-year-old failed Mr. Olympia motherf**ker.”
In the subsequent days, pro wrestling legend Ric Flair took to Twitter to fire back at McGregor.
Coming from a guy who built a career copying my persona, I expected the type of class we get from Ronda or Anderson. pic.twitter.com/iVoC0Xva5g
— Ric Flair® (@RicFlairNatrBoy) August 7, 2016
This only prompted McGregor to unleash more heat.
“I don’t know what to say to Ric Flair,” McGregor said when asked about the wrestler’s comments. “This ain’t no gimmick. This is the real sh*t. I’ve gotta get in there and fight a man for real, with no script, with no nothing. He was talking about bringing some other wrestler guys out to challenge me. Come bring it, then. This is the real shit over here.”
And while McGregor later offered a disclaimer, saying that he did respect WWE CEO Vince McMahon and a handful of wrestlers like Triple H and the Rock, he also reiterated that he doesn’t care for many of the figures in that world.
“[Vince McMahon] is a f**king legend. They wrote Vinny off a few years ago when he dropped from the billions and then he rose back up, and now he’s back in the billionaire club. What he’s been able to do with that bunch of dweebs he has over there at the moment has been phenomenal, and I respect him for that.”
According to WWE superstar CM Punk, who will cross over to MMA when he takes on Mickey Gall on the main card of UFC 203 this Saturday, McGregor’s comments were not taken especially well by the pro wrestling world.
“A lot of feelings were hurt, ” Punk said during a UFC 203 media call. “I can tell you that much, which I thought was a little strange.”
“You’ve gotta leave the emotion out of it,” he continued. “These guys [pro wrestlers] still don’t know.”
“It’s a hard thing to comment on, because the amount of people who responded to him made me feel like they were told to respond to him,” Punk added. “[McGregor is] the biggest name in sports at the moment. There’s always grey areas when you involve that whole scene and you’re wondering, is this a work, is this not a work?”
Do you think McGregor stepped out of line by insulting figures from another sport? Sound off, PENN nation!