Mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor has said he wants to inspire fans living “in the middle of nowhere”.
The film, Conor McGregor: Notorious, captures his rise from claiming social welfare and living with his parents in Crumlin to claiming Ultimate Fighting Championships and boxing against Floyd Mayweather.
At the film’s premiere at the Savoy Cinema in Dublin last night, he said he wanted the film to provide “inspiration” to “people in the middle of nowhere that should not be on a red carpet”.
He added: “Anyone can do it if you put in the work, you put in the time, you believe in yourself, you don’t listen to doubt and you carry on and achieve greatness.
“My people shouldn’t be on no red carpet, shouldn’t be on this stage, but we are.
“We are now, so I hope people will take inspiration from that.”
Ahead of the film’s premiere, he shared a picture of the Pope in the popemobile on Instagram saying : “We are shutting down O Connell street at the world famous Savoy Movie theatre!”
No stranger to controversy, the 29-year-old apologised this week for using the word “faggot” in a clip that went viral.
In a pre-recorded interview set to be broadcast on RTÉ’s Late Late Show this Friday, McGregor said he was sorry and did not mean to disrespect the LGBT community by using the word.
A clip emerged last week of him last week using the word three times in a conversation with fighter Artem Lobov after the latter’s defeat in a UFC bout.
“I was whispering in his ear and I was speaking on that and I said what I said.
“I meant no disrespect to nobody of the LGBT community. I didn’t mean no disrespect.
“You’d swear I was screaming at two people of the same sex kissing. I campaigned when we were trying to get same-sex marriage legalised, I was campaigning for that.
“It is another one where things just get blown out and they love to just . . . any chance they get they love to throw me under the bus. It is what it is. I’ll just say sorry for what I said and that’s it and try to move on from it.”
