Conor McGregor dressed as an infamous Mexican gangster during a press conference to promote his ill-fated title fight with Rafael dos Anjos.
By 2016, McGregor was already the biggest star in the sport after knocking out Jose Aldo in just 13 seconds to become the featherweight champion.
The Irishman’s popularity was due to a combination of his skills in the Octagon and on the mic.
Intent on replicating his achievements in Cage Warriors, ‘Notorious’ moved up in weight to attempt to become the first dual-weight champion in UFC history by beating Rafael dos Anjos at UFC 196.
Conor McGregor’s ‘El Chapo’ costume went unnoticed by many
A few days before the UFC 196 press conference, Mexican gangster Joaquín Guzmán – better known as ‘El Chapo’ – being captured by the Mexican authorities was the biggest news story in the world.
Inspired by what he had been seeing on TV, McGregor decided to dress like the notorious criminal when he came face-to-face with Dos Anjos for the first time ahead of their fight.
The joke flew over a lot of people’s heads, even after the UFC superstar used one of his verbal tirades at the lightweight champion to point out the costume he had put together.
McGregor said: “I’m speaking Spanish. I’m dressed like ‘El Chapo’ in his prime.
“I’m running this company like half a wise guy. I’m up here verbally destroying this man. I am a multicultural individual. I am up here doing whatever I want.”
During their face-off, the 36-year-old steered into the skit as he copied the pose ‘El Chapo’ used when meeting actor Sean Penn for their controversial Rolling Stone magazine interview.
Unfortunately, the fight never took place as dos Anjos was forced out of the bout with a foot injury, which McGregor has been teasing him about ever since.
Nate Diaz stepped in on short notice and shocked the world by choking out McGregor at UFC 196 in March 2016. A rematch took place later that same year and McGregor got his revenge courtesy of a majority decision at UFC 202.
Dos Anjos lost the 155lb belt in his next fight. Eddie Alvarez quickly stopped him before McGregor knocked out Alvarez to realize his two-belt dream at UFC 205.
Eight years later, Dos Anjos will look to keep his career on track when he takes on welterweight contender Geoff Neal at UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi on Saturday night.
McGregor is gearing up for an MMA comeback in 2025. The UFC legend is currently on the lookout for an opponent for his first fight since breaking his leg during a trilogy bout with Dustin Poirier in July 2021.
Joe Rogan loved Conor McGregor’s ‘El Chapo’ bit
It wasn’t an instant hit, but McGregor’s ‘El Chapo’ costume eventually got some love, thanks to UFC commentator Joe Rogan, who talked about it on his popular podcast.
Rogan said during an October 2019 episode: “Did you ever see when Conor McGregor bought that same shirt and was taking pictures with people with that same pose?
“Conor was doing that same pose and not telling anyone. Everybody had to figure out what Conor was doing.
Rogan’s producer pulled up footage of McGregor posing alongside Dos Anjos and compared it the to controversial picture of Penn with ‘El Chapo’.
He added: “Look at him. Look at his face! He’s just a f****** animal. God damn, I love that guy. Come on man it’s pretty f****** close,”
“It’s just the handshake thing. Conor is normally putting his fists in peoples’ faces and talking s*** and in that one, he looks like he’s going to shake hands.
“Look at that, it’s like the same thing. He’s holding his hand out and dos Anjos isn’t even thinking about holding his hand. Dana is going, ‘Oh my god. I’m going to make so much money from this fight.'”