UFC News 2016: Irish Journalist Receives Major Backlash Over Column About Conor McGregor
Irish journalist Joe Brolly has revealed that he has received a ton of backlash from mixed martial arts fans after he released an article about UFC featherweight world champion Conor McGregor in connection with the recent MMA tragedy in their country.
In April 12th, Portuguese fighter Joao Carvalho passed away after suffering head injuries following his fight against McGregor's teammate Charlie Ward at the Total Extreme Fighting in Dublin. In a report by MMA Fighting, Carvalho "started to feel bad" after his third round technical knockout loss to Ward last April 9th.
The 28-year old fighter was then rushed to the Beaumont Hospital, where he underwent immediate brain surgery. After being in critical condition for 48 hours, he eventually lost his life.
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Brolly then wrote an article for The Independent, published on April 17th, where he condemned mixed martial arts as a sport. Along with it, he also questioned McGregor's involvement in the recent incident.
"Is it good enough that a young man be beaten to death in a cage for our amusement? Is it good enough that as he begins the slow process of dying, lying on the canvas like a tranquillised cow in the abattoir, Conor McGregor, our most famous sportsman, is giving high fives all around, laughing, and beating his chest? Is it?" an excerpt of Brolly's column reads.
Brolly also noted how he understands that prizefighting is a sport that has been going on for ages, noting how serious violence "thrills" the audiences.
Apparently, he received a good number of hate messages for it. In another column he wrote dated April 24th, Brolly handpicked one user named @Steepheno, who engaged with him through unpleasant words, and even challenged him to "do something about it."
"What I have noticed is that these McGregor supporters live in a sort of video game reality. A young man dies in the ring. They say RIP solemnly, write clichés about respecting him and his family, and that 'he died doing what he loved,'" an exceprt of his most recent column reads.
For his part, McGregor was deeply affected by Carvalho's death, and even sent out some well wishes for the fallen fighter.
