THE SHORTLIST FOR RTÉ Sports Person of the Year is packed with worthy contenders, but ahead of tonight’s ceremony, three nominees stand out from the rest of the 2015 field.
On Thursday, Sean Farrell made the case for Paul O’Connell. Yesterday, Ciarán Gallagher argued in favour of world boxing champion Michael Conlan. Today, Paul Dollery endorses the claims of UFC featherweight world champion Conor McGregor…
In a Dublin café on Tuesday, I couldn’t help but eavesdrop on a conversation between four middle-aged businessmen. The words ‘Croke Park’, ‘rematch’ and ‘Jose Aldo’ initially grabbed my attention.
Normally, the focus of their discussion would probably have been the struggles of the Irish provinces in the European Champions Cup, or the composition of the Republic of Ireland squad for Euro 2016.
The Irish sporting landscape is very different now, however, and Conor McGregor is responsible for the change. The strengths and weaknesses of UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos are a lunchtime talking point in Ireland in 2015.
McGregor garnered unprecedented levels of interest for his sport this year, completing the journey from unknown debutant in April 2013 to MMA’s biggest star in December 2015. The mainstream media attention has also allowed him to begin negotiations for the biggest contract in the history of mixed martial arts.
McGregor started 2015 by securing a shot at the UFC featherweight division’s top spot with a second-round knockout of veteran Dennis Siver. Many experts still harboured doubts over his potential, but the next 10 minutes and 10 seconds the Dubliner spent in the octagon would put them firmly to bed.
In front of a predominantly Irish crowd of over 16,000 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, McGregor KO’d number one contender Chad Mendes in July. In the same setting seven days ago, dominant world champion Jose Aldo met with a similar fate. There was even a stint as a coach on The Ultimate Fighter in between.
Over the course of 10 years, the 145lbs division’s elite members — Mendes, Frankie Edgar, Urijah Faber, Mike Brown etc. — all failed to bring Aldo down. McGregor did it in just 13 seconds. The significance of the 27-year-old’s spectacular KO at UFC 194 will merely increase with the passing of time. Nevertheless, it will go down as one of the defining moments in UFC history.
After defeating Aldo, McGregor concluded his post-fight interview by grabbing the microphone from commentator Joe Rogan and yelling: “Ireland, baby… we did it!” The win was his reward for years of graft, but while proudly draped in the tricolour, he made sure to let those who had stayed up throughout the night back home know that this was a triumph for the entire country.
Mixed martial arts never threatened to invade the Irish public’s consciousness until Conor McGregor came along. Now, there’s no escaping it. McGregor hasn’t just engineered his own success; he’s been responsible for the growth of an entire sport.
As 2015 approaches its end, the world of MMA is obsessed with a lad from Crumlin who’ll only be enjoying his third Christmas off the dole. In a memorable year for Irish combat sports athletes, something remarkable needed to happen for Michael Conlan to be beaten to the RTÉ Sports Person of the Year award.
As it happens, Conor McGregor is adept in the extraordinary. 2015 will be remembered as the year Ireland crowned its first UFC champion. 2015 was the year of Conor McGregor.
Dave Berry / Vimeo
NB: Although the nominees were released before the fight took place, RTÉ confirmed that Conor McGregor’s win against Jose Aldo has been taken into account by the judging panel.
