McGregor & Putin

With friends like this who needs enemies?

BY LLOYD GORMAN

While he has less and less to be happy about lately the stoney faced Vladimir Putin can sometimes crack a smile when the mood take him – but don’t expect any chuckles. The joyless autocrat has a zero tolerance policy about joking around as Conor McGregor discovered first hand when he met Putin in the flesh. “Today I was invited to the World Cup [Moscow July 2018] final as a guest of Russian President Vladimir Putin,” McGregor, 33, posted on social media at the time. “This man is one of the greatest leaders of our time and I was honored to attend such a landmark event alongside him. “Today was an honor for me Mr. Putin. Thank you and congratulations on an amazing World Cup.” The brash fighter who also likes to call himself The Notorious Conor McGregor ‘gifted’ Putin with a bottle of his Proper 12 Whiskey, which he later claimed was the very first bottle of the stuff ever made. At some point during the audience with his host the pair cosy up for the obligatory photograph, as a short video easily found on Youtube shows. Just as he had a million times before the UFC star swung into a familiar pose and put his arm around Putin’s shoulder and made a raised clenched fist with his other hand. Your typical MMA fan might like to be manhandled like that but it was not how the would-be tyrant expected or accepted he should be treated. In the video clip one of Putin’s (many) bodyguards can be seen stepping in towards the overly enthusiastic Dub with some kind of warning to back off. As soon as he clocks the henchman’s posture a clearly startled McGregor removes his arm from around Putin,

stands back a little and stands straight with a sombre look on his face. In an almost pitiful bid to save some of his lost dignity McGregor quickly raised another fist before clasping his hands in front of him again. The encounter ended with McGregor bowing to Putin – a traditional mark of respect in martial arts – and shaking his hand. “President Putin’s security detail is second to none as I’m sure you know, you don’t mess around with Vladimir,” McGregor told journalists at a later press conference.

What’s your poison Mr Putin?

The experience didn’t scare him off though, because ‘The Proper Irishman’ was back “on Russian soil” the next year to build his business empire with the launch of his whiskey brand there. It was well received by all accounts. One journalist reported: “McGregor flaunted his whiskey during a press tour of Moscow in October 2019 as hundreds packed into the historic Central Telagraph building and thousands more more gathered on Moscow’s central Tverskaya Street, chasing his limonusine as he left.” There was however at least one dark side to the entry of Proper 12 into Russia. It emerged that Putin’s security detail took it away and had it tested for posion to make sure it was ‘safe’ for Putin.. It has yet to be revealed in the mainstream media or on his own social media if McGregor still holds Putin in high esteem as before or if his attitude towards him has dimmed in the light of the horrific war crimes and mass murders that have been carried out under his rule. McGregor claims he does not know if Putin tried the tipple and what he thought about it but there are plenty of other Russians who have developed a taste for it. As it turns out there is massive demand for Irish whiskey in Russia. Indeed, despite their traditional image as big vodka drinkers the former Soviet Union country is the second biggest consumer of the stuff in the world, next only to America. In the same year Proper 12 hit the shelves of Russian supermarkets and pubs thirsty locals skulled 605,800 cases or 7.3 million bottles of it. Well established labels like Jameson, Tullamore and Bushmills top sales but behind them is a crowded market of smaller, lesser known brands that you won’t find in Ireland. Apparently demand for Irish whiskey was so strong that fake Irish whiskeys – some allegedly made in Ukraine – flooded the market. According to the Irish Whiskey Association this was a 231% increase since 2010 and until Russian forces invaded Ukraine there was no sign of that market slowing down. But as a result of the invasion Guinness, Jameson, Baileys and Tullamore Dew are amongst the Irish companies/ brands to pull out or suspend operations or exports with Russia.