McGregor’s dad tells President Zelensky to keep his son’s name ‘out yo ‘f*****g mouth’ over Putin criticism

Conor McGregor’s father hit back at Volodymyr Zelensky after the Ukrainian president criticized the former champion for meeting with Vladimir Putin. Tony McGregor posted…

By: Karim Zidan | 1 year ago
McGregor’s dad tells President Zelensky to keep his son’s name ‘out yo ‘f*****g mouth’ over Putin criticism
Bloody Elbow 2.0 | Anton Tabuena

Conor McGregor’s father hit back at Volodymyr Zelensky after the Ukrainian president criticized the former champion for meeting with Vladimir Putin.

Tony McGregor posted a photo on Instagram of Zelensky seated at a table alongside French president Emmanuel Macron, former German chancellor Angela Merkel, and Putin, along with the caption, “Zelensky, fight your war and keep my son’s name out yo f*****g mouth.”

McGregor’s explicit rant occurred shortly after Irish media reported that Zelensky was unhappy with McGregor posing alongside Putin during the 2018 World Cup in Moscow. Zelensky informed an Irish delegation visiting Kyiv last week that he was once a fan of the former two-division UFC champion but changed his opinion after McGregor met Putin.

“He felt he wasn’t being supportive of Ukraine,” Seanad Cathaoirleach Mark Daly said. “This man is fighting a war but he knows what’s going on all around the world, including in Ireland.”

McGregor’s meeting with Putin took place during the 2018 World Cup final between France and Croatia, which took place in Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium. McGregor tweeted a photo of himself with his arm around Putin and revealed that he had been invited as a guest of the Russian president.

“This man is one of the greatest leaders of our time,” McGregor said of Putin on social media, following France’s 4-2 win. “I was honoured to attend such a landmark event alongside him.”

McGregor ended his social media post with a Cyrillic phrase that translates to “Go, Russia.” A little more than a year later, McGregor returned to Russia to promote his Proper Twelve Irish whiskey brand. During the press conference, the Irishman revealed that he gifted Putin the “very first bottle” of Proper Twelve during the World Cup, though he was unable to have a drink with the Russian president because his security team confiscated the bottle to have it tested for toxic ingredients.

McGregor’s father has since posted pictures of Putin alongside famous individuals such as U.S. President Joe Biden.

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About the author
Karim Zidan
Karim Zidan

Karim Zidan is a investigative reporter and feature writer focusing on the intersection of sports and politics. He has written for BloodyElbow since 2014 and has served as an associate editor since 2016. He also writes for The New York Times and The Guardian. Karim has been invited to speak about his work at numerous universities, including Princeton, and was a panelist at the South by Southwest (SXSW) film festival and the Oslo Freedom Forum. He also participated in the United Nations counter-terrorism conference in 2021. His reporting on Ramzan Kadyrov’s involvement in MMA, much of which was done for Bloody Elbow, has led to numerous award nominations, and was the basis of an award-winning HBO Real Sports documentary.

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