There’s a lot to be said for Conor McGregor’s persona, mainly because it’s gotten him to such a high point within the landscape of mixed martial arts.

The popular Irishman has certainly hit a few speed bumps along the way in the last few years, but now that he has his return fight against Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone officially booked, many fans are anticipating that this could be his return to winning ways – with 2020 being highlighted as a potentially defining year for his career.

McGregor also joked about going after the “NMF” Championship after it was presented to Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show yesterday, but there was one man who felt like McGregor needs to go back to his roots.

I like the old Conor better. This one is a dork! https://t.co/lGVaDPZRT8

— Funky (@Benaskren) December 16, 2019

At the risk of a big backlash, Ben Askren decided to poke the bear and call Conor McGregor a “dork” – which, in all likelihood, wasn’t meant as all too serious of a comment, but we’ve all seen how MMA Twitter can take these things.

“I like the old Conor better,” Askren wrote on Twitter. “This one is a dork!”

Askren is now retired as most people know and it doesn’t appear as if he’s going to break that retirement this time around. On the other hand, many believe McGregor will also ride off into the sunset if he isn’t able to beat the veteran “Cowboy” when they meet in Las Vegas next month.

Social media is a fascinating tool for fighters to use these days because whether you like it or not, it certainly makes some kind of impact in regards to the hype for certain fights. Askren was one man who was able to thrive off of that, mainly because he didn’t need to do all too much talking in person.

McGregor, though, always seemed to thrive when he had more of an audience to work with – as the trajectory of his career can prove.

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 12/16/2019.