McGregor Forever

"I've lost my mind doing this game. Like Vincent Van Gogh. He dedicated his life to his art and lost his mind in the process. That's happened to me. But fuck it. When that gold belt is around my waist, when my mother has a big mansion, when my girlfriend has a different car for everyday of the week, my kid's kids have anything they ever want; then it will pay. Then I'm happy, I lost my mind."

He is a polarizing figure, UFC superstar Conor McGregor. Loved. Hated. Chronically watched by fans who want to see him succeed (again) and fail in equal measure. For those of us who have followed the sport over the last ten years and witnessed his journey from nervous debutant against Marcus Brimage to the sport's biggest star by far, I think we can all appreciate his dedication to the craft.

After dominating fighters such as Dustin Poirier, José Aldo, Chad Mendes and Eddie Alvarez - Norpat's double weight class championship belts - Conor has found himself in a difficult position in recent years, with two losses to his arch-rival Poirier causing his former stardom to fade. In the newly-released Netflix documentary mini-series (four 53-minute episodes each) McGregor Forever, we follow his journey from the moment he knocked out reigning world champion José Aldo in 13 seconds, lost to Khabib and broke his ankle in fight three against Dustin in what I thought would be a long, lavish rehash of all the things we've already seen, already know. But I thought wrong.

Here, Netflix has followed Conor at home, in the gym, behind the scenes and offers in this mini-series material that I have never seen before and just as in the case of the sports documentary "Notorious", we get to know a pragmatic, intelligent, inspiring and above all very human McGregor who can't really let go of the fight, who despite millions of dollars in the bank can't allow himself to retire. Because just like the quote from that 2007 interview, he, like Van Gogh, has lost some of his sanity in the pursuit of perfection. And that's where this mini-series really succeeds in providing an interesting insight.

I know that over the last three years it has become popular in MMA circles to dislike what Conor McGregor does and says. He is "finished as a fighter", today it is "only the mouth left" and many UFC lovers seem to find it very easy to reject everything he says and does. Part of me understands that, of course. Conor hasn't performed as well as he should over the past few years. Minus the win against Cowboy Cerrone, there are plenty of moments that perhaps should have been handled differently. Where he should have been smarter. Said different things. Partied less. Seen a little less and fought better. But for me, his shortcomings as a man and a human being are just as fascinating as his dominance when he looked like he couldn't lose for several years.

Getting to see more of the "real Conor" for nearly four hours, seeing him in the role of a father, a coach, a friend, a businessman is always interesting in its own right and I will forever hold this inspiring man in high regard. Is he flawless? Absolutely not. He's human, and the way he's gone from a welfare-paying plumber's apprentice to the biggest star in the sports world cannot be ignored. McGregor Forever is really good. I would have liked to see a bit more of his thoughts after the Khabib loss and I would have liked to see more of his rehabilitation after the broken leg and it gets a bit rushed towards the end but overall this is a great sports documentary about MMA's most fascinating superstar.