Hi everybody,
This just might have been the most exciting week in the history of Religion of Sports. We have three big pieces of news that we were finally able to share with you all: we announced a documentary about the NBA’s G League as well as the second installment of our In the Arena franchise, focusing on the one-and-only Serena Williams. We also released our latest show, McGregor Forever, on Netflix, which follows the “Notorious” Irish fighter over his past four fights. You can watch the series now.
We consider ourselves so lucky to be able to share these modern-day myths with you all, stories of grit, rags-to-riches, and the cost of success. And the best part is, this week’s news is just the tip of the iceberg. We have more to share, and soon. As a subscriber to The Word, you’ll always be among the first to hear about all of it.
This week, we’re talking about Conor McGregor and what McGregor Forever helped to reveal about his greatness. Thanks for reading.
As always,
Joe
About two-thirds of the way through the first episode of our new series McGregor Forever, streaming now on Netflix, the world’s most “notorious” fighter finally steps into the octagon. The Irishman puffs out his chest and his arms go limp, swaggering side to side as he marches to the crowd’s delight. It’s the “Billionaire Strut,” a Conor McGregor signature. Nobody has ever accused the guy of being modest.
Over the course of the series, we also see a different side of the fighter. McGregor breaks down when he learns he’s going to have a daughter and quietly sweeps the pews of a New York church without an entourage. He travels to Kiev, Ukraine, to celebrate the opening of an MMA gym. He smiles and laughs and toasts the crowd with a shot of his own Irish whiskey, Proper Twelve (as co-director Liam Hughes observed, “He’s the kind of guy whose presence you can just feel in a room when he enters”). One starstruck fan asks a question. “You’re very so kind, so calm,” she says. “What is your true face?”
McGregor barely allows himself time to think before answering. “My behavior and my attitude reacts to my surroundings,” he explains. “And so if I’m scheduled to fight a man, and I know this man is gearing up to punch me in the face and hurt me, my attitude and behavior is different.”
Herein lies the tension at the heart of the show: How can you square the brashness of the fighter with the surprising gentleness of the man? For the greatest athletes—the Kobe Bryants, Simone Biles and Serena Williams of the world—it’s not enough to just show up and play a sport. They bring themselves to every aspect of their performance. It’s a theme that runs through nearly all of Religion of Sports’ work; in Tom vs. Time, Tom Brady explained that football, “allows me to be who I am in a very authentic way that is hard for me to be when I walk off the field.”
I thought of that moment while watching McGregor perform his signature strut around the octagon, a move that has now been copied by everyone from Shaq to Paul Pogba to NFL kickers. McGregor once declared, “That’s my walk! I created that walk.” Later, he admitted its true creator was the WWE’s Vince McMahon. “I stole that walk, and that walk is now mine,” McGregor amended. The truth is, it doesn’t really matter where the strut came from; that move is McGregor’s now. It captures the cockiness, the boldness, the singularity of the man. He brought himself to it, and that’s the difference. If nothing else, it’s authentic.
A few hours before the lights came on, McGregor sat pondering the moment he would step into that octagon. He’d need to channel a specific part of himself to bring to the fight, a part that believes he’s unbreakable, something that allows him to walk around like he owns the world. “My weight’s good,” he told us. “My body’s good. But my mind is best. Bulletproof.”
🎙️ Don’t miss the latest episode of Counterattack, telling the important story of soccer player Sinead Farrelly.
🎾 Have you seen the teaser for In the Arena: Serena Williams?
💃 Angel City FC rookie phenom Alyssa Thompson had to miss her senior prom last weekend because her team had a game scheduled for the same time. So her teammates made a prom of their own—complete with promposals, dresses, and one of the great team photos of all time.
♟️ All legendary rapper GZA of the Wu-Tang Clan wants to talk about is…chess?
♠️ RIP to the one-and-only Doyle Brunson, “the Godfather of Poker,” who won 10 WSOP bracelets and who, more than anyone else, is responsible for bringing the game out of shady backrooms and into the mainstream. I was lucky enough to spend some time with Brunson in his Las Vegas home last year for Texas Monthly. He lived one helluva life.