He was magnificent, they were magnificent.
The reaction to the Irish MMA fans in Las Vegas has almost eclipsed the title-winning achievements of Conor McGregor.
While the Irish featherweight claimed an interim featherweight belt for delivering a brutal TKO-sealing punch to Chad Mendes, the supporters from the Emerald Isle had everyone raving.
Following Sinead O’Connor’s haunting rendition of ‘The Foggy Dew’, UFC commentator Joe Rogan declared, ‘The story of this fight is not just Conor McGregor. This is a fight about how much pride these people have.
‘I mean I can’t… we’ve had a lot of Brazilians come, to see Brazilian champions fight and compete, but there has never been anything like this.’
Following McGregor’s win, Rogan then told the Irishman how he had been “humbled” by the 3,000-plus Irish fans inside the arena.
The vanquished Mendes was equally complimentary of the Irish contingent in Vegas. He said:
‘What’s awesome is this Irish guys; you guys are crazy. I absolutely love it. I wish we had so much support like this with everyone here [in the USA]. It’s unbelievable to see you guys and how much support you have for your athletes.’
In the post-event press conference, UFC president Dana White took up the pro-Ireland theme and ran with it.
He proclaimed, ‘If you were ever to the [last UFC] fight in Ireland, there was only 9,000 of them. It sounds like 90,000.’
White added, ‘There’s nothing louder than the Irish. It’s crazy. When we were coming in here, I was telling all the metro police officers “You boys are in for a long night tonight, let me tell ya!”‘
