Conor McGregor Slammed for Praising Vladimir Putin, Attending World Cup As His Guest

The UFC star called Putin “one of the greatest leaders of our time.”

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Strongman Conor McGregor attended the World Cup final in Moscow Sunday as a guest of strongman Vladimir Putin, and praised the Russian president as “one of the greatest leaders of our time” in an Instagram post. 

McGregor, who was on hand to watch France beat up on Croatia on its way to a 4-2 win, had earlier posedt a pic of himself watching the match in his three-piece suit. “A truly amazing spectacle!” he captioned the shot. 

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But it was the picture with Putin and McGregor’s kind words for him that drew the ire of many fans. They called him out for cozying up to a leader who murders his enemies, imprisons his critics and commits human rights violations. McGregor, of course, has taken criticism himself in the past for racist and homophobic statements. 

https://twitter.com/stevie1666/status/1018667626657009664

McGregor wasn’t the only UFC fighter on hand in Moscow Sunday. Lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, who was dressed more appropriately than his Irish rival, was there too. 

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Many believe the Russian fighter will be McGregor’s opponent if and when he returns to the Octagon. But that return is currently on hold as McGregor sorts through the legal issues associated with his blow up in Brooklyn last April. His next court date is set for July 26 and UFC head Dana White says he’s waiting for that to pass before planning McGregor’s next move.

“Is he going to get fined? Is he going to be on probation? Is he going to get this, that? When that’s over with, then we’ll start talking about him fighting,” White said last week. 

 But McGregor appears to be getting ready for the cage anyway. 

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