Do we like Conor McGregor?
Our score: 2 out of 10. A civil court finding against him, an anti-immigration campaign and an old slur outweigh the little verified good alongside.
The latest chapter is a comeback that barely started. His first octagon fight since 2021 was against Max Holloway in Las Vegas in July 2026, and it was over in 69 seconds. Holloway said afterwards that they should “run it back one more time”, so don't assume that's the last we see of him.
The run-up was messy. The New York Times reported, citing two anonymous people with knowledge of the matter, that McGregor took anabolic steroids and human growth hormone after his recovery, which is the part drawing the heat. His manager says he has fully complied with the rules, and the UFC says all 32 samples from 22 tests in two years were negative. The UFC also suspended him for 18 months in October 2025 over missed drug tests, backdated so it ran out this year.
The big one is the civil case in Dublin. In November 2024 a High Court jury found him liable for assaulting the plaintiff, who said he “brutally raped and battered” her in 2018. McGregor denies it and says the sex was consensual. Three Court of Appeal judges dismissed his appeal in its entirety in July 2025, leaving him with damages of nearly US$285,000 and about US$1.5 million in legal costs.
The case came back into the news in June 2026 when Jimmy Fallon hosted McGregor on The Tonight Show to promote the fight. The plaintiff welcomed the criticism of that booking, and McGregor still denies any wrongdoing. This is a family page, mate, and an interview that skips the verdict is a hard watch.
On the harm test, he announced a run for the Irish presidency in March 2025 on an anti-immigration platform. He said Ireland was “at the cusp of potentially losing its Irishness” and, as CNN reported, claimed rural towns were being overrun by immigrants. The Taoiseach said the comments did not reflect the people of Ireland. He pulled out in September, calling the process “fixed” for establishment-approved candidates, and in 2017 he apologised after being filmed using an anti-gay slur. Nothing turned up in my reading on trans rights or the climate, so that's honestly a gap.
In his own words, he has described a spiritual turn. In a June 2026 interview with Ariel Helwani he said: “I forgive myself for disgracing the position that God put me in.” He also said he has no regrets. Faith isn't a mark against anyone here, but none of it addresses the court finding or the campaign.