Chaos is a Friend of Mine

by Ewan MacKenna

The year is 2013, and Ewan MacKenna is sitting in McDonald's with Conor McGregor as he enjoys his weekly coffee, a treat in the eyes of a dedicated fighter. The Crumlin born mixed martial arts fighter has not yet cashed his 60,000 prize money after his maiden UFC victory over Marcus Brimage, a first-round stoppage, but he knows the importance of it only recently has he found himself in the social welfare queue. Five years on and McGregor is late for his press conference with Khabib Nurmagomedov ahead of their showdown at UFC 229. By the time he arrives his opponent has gone, but it doesn't stop him from launching into a diatribe against him before reverting to a sales pitch for his own whiskey, Proper No. 12. Somewhere along the line, the fighter became a stranger to his art, increasingly drawn to the circus that surrounds him. But what is McGregor A wonderful rags-to-riches tale Dedicated athlete Cultural phenomenon Troubled soul Out-of-control kid Confused young man Narcissist Arrogant thug Sporting icon McGregor is any and all but, crucially, more than most sporting stars, he is also a mirror of society. In Chaos is a Friend of Mine, MacKenna takes in both Las Vegas in 2018 and Dublin in 2019 in order to examine McGregor's journey, from his upbringing in the Irish capital, to his early days as a wide-eyed, prodigiously talented martial arts obsessive, to his recent antics outside the ring which have seem him grow bigger than the sport itself but spiral out of control.

250 pages, Paperback

Published October 28, 2019

Reviews

[Judith · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book was interesting in parts but the writing lets it down - it's not great.

[Brendan Crowley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really interesting book that examines the phenomenon of Conor McGregor. McKenna considers how McGregor has been shaped by and helped to shape modern society from the populist rise of racism to the growing obsession with fame and celebrity.

Many of McGregors inner circle refused to speak to the author, a clear sign of McGregors need to control his own narrative. Instead McKenna takes a much broader view than a paint by numbers biography. Ultimately he tells how a charming young man of immense confidence and no little talent achieved beyond his wildest dreams but seems to have found it difficult to separate who he was from the boarish, racist public character he became.

A really interesting read. McKenna's dislike of the cultish followers of McGregor is well known to anyone who follows him on twitter. Beware the 1 star reviews of trolls and fan boys. The book is as objective as possible unless you are someone who would condone the racism and islamaphobia as legitimate tactics to sell tickets.

[Nicola OHara · Rating 1 out of 5]

A poor read. Ewan must have started the book with the intention of speaking to a number of people in or around the McGregor circle, this doesn’t happen so Ewan gets soundbites from a couple of outside sources which are actually quite good , the rest of the book is social commentary on what is wrong with the world. Absolute drivel.

An author who loves the sound of his own voice, this book is a load of self-indulgent tripe.Avoid at all costs.

[Emmet White · Rating 1 out of 5]

Disappointing read. The book made me angry at times. Not because of some of McGregor's obvious reprehensible behaviour, but because of the absolute nonsense McKenna writes about in what seems like an effort to fill the pages. There's very little insight - which was always going to be the case as no one close to McGregor would dare entertain McKenna. Maybe that should have served as an epiphany that the book might not deliver any reasonable insight.

[Stephen Allis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some interesting tales. Not very well written, however; rambling in some parts, ranting in others. MacKenna has a dig at modern pseudo-psychology, yet much of this book feels like just that.

[Mikey Moriarty · Rating 5 out of 5]

A compelling read on a chaotic character.