During one of the most tumultuous moments of his MMA career, Conor McGregor appeared at his most relaxed and generous with his time.
One would have forgiven McGregor for being distracted during his week-long training camp at the Mjölnir gym in Iceland.
The Dubliner had been pulled from the UFC 200 card – denying him a rematch with Nate Diaz – after threatening to retire then refusing to leave training camp for a week-long publicity tour in the United States.
Icelandic photographer Snorri Björns happened to be at the gym, doing some reportage on McGregor’s SBG teammate Gunnar Nelson, on the day McGregor posted his infamous riposte to the UFC and appearances with ‘Tim and Suzie on the nobody gives a fuck morning show’.
"There comes a time when you need to stop handing out flyers and get back to the damn shop" – Conor McGregor https://t.co/qJa6MC9sqE
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) April 21, 2016
Expecting to find ‘The Notorious’ unapproachable and sullen, Björns found it was the exact opposite. On his Facebook page, he wrote:
‘I spent the next hour glued to the fence and didn’t dare to point my lens at Conor who, compared to his statement released earlier, was surprisingly happy and relaxed.
‘Some fighters had stopped training and started chatting and stretching with their partner instead of punching them in the face.
‘I felt the training had come to an end and was quite happy with the photos I got but obviously wanted some shots of Conor too. Fans who stood on the sideline were asking for pictures with him, which they got.
‘I was about to pack my camera when Gunnar suddenly calls Conor and asks him to join him in the octagon. He runs past me and straight into the cage.’
Björns got some fantastic snaps of McGregor and Nelson, who was preparing for his UFC Rotterdam bout with Albert Tumenov, and found the pair were having a ball.
“I watched a lot of fights that night but none where the fighters threw in jokes before gloves touched and suddenly became laser focused before a brutal takedown, then bursting into laugh when one caught the other in a rear naked choke.’
Björns was invited to Nelson’s house the following morning and enjoyed some fantastic access to the welterweight and his training methods with John Kavanagh, his coach, and teammates.
It is definitely worth checking out the photographers’ Facebook page for more on a remarkable few days when he was in the becalmed eye of a media storm.
*Image of McGregor and Nelson via Snorri Björns
