Well, this is a divisive one.
Nobody seems to be able to agree on whether Conor McGregor called Rafael dos Anjos a racially-motivated slur – aimed at the Latino community – during yesterday’s press conference.
For our money… he didn’t say it.
Check out the audio around the 24-second mark.
While it may sound initially like McGregor does label dos Anjos, before calling him a ‘bum’, from our listen, what you’re actually hearing is dos Anjos say the word ‘speak’ as McGregor talks at the same time.
Miguel Delaney and Ken Early, football writers for ESPN and The Irish Times respectively, discussed whether McGregor used the offensive term.
@MiguelDelaney he… definitely didn't say it
— Ken Early (@kenearlys) January 21, 2016
@kenearlys I'll retract if he doesn't but he says "you're a", moves his mouth that way… It seems pretty clear!
— Miguel Delaney (@MiguelDelaney) January 21, 2016
McGregor, incidentally, had used the same press conference to refute allegations of racism by boxer Floyd Mayweather.
Mayweather said in a recent interview that McGregor’s popularity was proof that “racism still exists” in combat sports and society.
“I didn’t appreciate that one bit,” McGregor said.
“There’s people buried in the desert for less than that. Floyd needs to understand before he speaks who he is speaking about, and that is that.”
Put simply, why would McGregor use such a damaging racial slur against dos Anjos during the same press conference in which he decries Floyd Mayweather for his own accusations of racism?
He didn’t say the word.
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