Former martial arts star Conor McGregor unveils business link with Trump Jr as he plots comeback

Former martial arts fighter and one of Ireland's biggest household names abroad Conor McGregor announced a new business partnership with Donald Trump Jr on Tuesday as he continues to plot his return to sports promotion after a broken leg forced him out of action more than four years ago.

"Amazing news. Welcome aboard my friend, and now business partner Donald Trump Jr, to our highly skilled team at MMA.Inc," McGregor wrote in a post on X.

"With a business powerhouse like Don Jr joining our team, we are set to amplify our message and accelerate our commercialism like never before! The Trumps and McGregors, a truly iconic team. Ireland and America's deeply rooted relations will be stronger than ever under my tenure, Ireland."

McGregor didn't give any other details about what exactly Trump Jr’s role in his mixed martial arts company would be, but this isn’t his first brush with the US First Family.

US President Donald Trump announced on Monday that the White House would play host to a UFC cage fight on the South Lawn next year.

Trump first teased the mixed martial arts (MMA) event in July, saying that he wanted more than 20,000 fans to attend as part of his country’s celebrations to mark 250 years since independence.

White House comeback?

Almost immediately after that announcement, McGregor registered his interest in competing in the event, arguably seeing it as the perfect high-profile venue to mark his comeback.

He has also reportedly returned to training and registered again with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) drug testing pool.

But some are not convinced about the prospect of a return to fighting or that McGregor’s high-profile associates will make much difference.

"He peaked around 2015, 2016 when he held two belts at different weights and there was McGregor mania about him at that stage, especially in the US," said Ken Early, a sports journalist with the Second Captains podcast.

"He realised the potential of fame, and how big he could get when it wasn’t that apparent at the time that MMA fights could earn so much money. He managed to get $100 million after a fight with Floyd Mayweather," he explained.

"He went out of control after that with brawls, fights, aggression and then the civil trial for sexual assault."

Legal troubles

In July, McGregor lost a civil jury appeal against a finding that he had raped Nikita Hand in a Dublin hotel room in 2018.

He was ordered to pay £206,000 (€237,946) in damages plus costs to Hand but his lawyers argued that his answers to police shouldn’t have been put before the jury.

The three judges at the Dublin Court of Appeal dismissed the case.

And at the beginning of this year, a lawsuit was filed against McGregor in a court in Florida, accusing him of sexually assaulting a 49-year-old woman in a toilet stall at the Kaseya Centre. That lawsuit, which is ongoing, alleges that McGregor "attempted to forcefully place his unprotected penis into [the victim's] anus without her consent."

But legal troubles aside, McGregor continues to rub shoulders with some of the world's most powerful figures.

Aside from teaming up with the president's son, McGregor was invited by Trump Sr to the White House on St Patrick’s Day in March this year, where he caused controversy in his native Ireland by complaining about immigration, prompting Irish political leaders to say he doesn’t speak for Ireland.

"There are issues around immigration and housing in Ireland, but people who vote here tend to be centrist. There's simply no great support for McGregor’s views," said Professor Gary Murphy, from the School of Law and Government at Dublin City University. 

McGregor was also a guest at Trump's inauguration in January.

Previously, he also courted leaders in the East, sparking controversy in 2018 after posting a photo of himself with Russian President Vladimir Putin after accepting his invitation to attend the World Cup final in Moscow.

During that visit, McGregor called Putin "one of the greatest leaders of our time."

And more recently, the former mixed martial artist shared images of a FaceTime call he had with SpaceX and Tesla chief Elon Musk, but neither revealed any details about what that call was about.

Bid for the presidency

In addition to rubbing shoulders with politicians, McGregor has also made a bid to get in on the game himself by announcing his intention to run for president of Ireland.

Earlier this week, Ireland’s Deputy Prime Minister Simon Harris blasted that notion, saying McGregor “represents the very worst of us” and had a “negligible chance” of being nominated.

That didn’t stop Elon Musk from endorsing McGregor for the presidency on Monday, saying in an X post, “Conor McGregor for President to save Ireland.”

But despite the proud announcements and celebrity endorsements, it’s unlikely that McGregor is in with a shot at the top of Ireland’s political tree.

McGregor emerged as a figurehead for Ireland's far right and made headlines in March when he announced on Instagram he would run for the presidency on an anti-immigration platform.

But while that news was lapped up by the press, several media outlets failed to explain that his chances of getting his name on the ballot paper are extremely slim.

The Irish president is directly elected by the Irish people for a seven-year term.

A presidential nominee has to be an Irish citizen over the age of 35, criteria which McGregor meets. However, each nominee must also either be nominated by at least 20 members of the Oireachtas, the Irish parliament, or by at least four of Ireland's 31 local authorities.

Eoin O'Malley, professor in political science at Dublin City University, told Euronews the chances of McGregor passing these thresholds are "exceedingly unlikely."

There are no 20 Oireachtas members who would back his bid, O'Malley explained, and while councils have in the past supported candidates' bids, McGregor is "too controversial a figure" for this to happen again.

"This is the highest role in the land. They are the first person of Ireland. so we have put in constitutional quality controls," Jennifer Kavanagh, law lecturer at South East Technological University, told Euronews.

"The parliamentary route is going to be pretty much locked in by political party allegiances. The local authority route is pretty much a free for all and we have had some very quirky candidates in the past."

"But remember, that individual is not very popular in Ireland," she added. "It might look like he's very popular outside of Ireland. Within Ireland he is not that popular. He's certainly not as popular as certain social media platforms would like to try and make outsiders think."

McGregor may have been the first UFC fighter to hold championships in two weight classes simultaneously, but it appears his presidential bid may be a case of him punching above his weight.