VIDEO EXCLUSIVE: Gotham Chopra On Why Conor McGregor Keeps Fighting, ‘McGregor Forever’

Director Gotham Chopra worked with Netflix to create the four-episode series McGregor Forever, which follows mixed martial artist superstar Conor McGregor.

It showcases his career in the UFC and how his past fights have led to his success today. McGregor is at a point where he could retire soon, as the typical retirement age of a UFC fighter is around age 35, but he has no plans to do so. In an exclusive with uInterview, Chopra discusses McGregor’s success and how he will continue to fight past retirement age.

“Conor also has a work ethic that he’s willing to do the work and I’ve never been around him where he compromises on that, so I think there’s more fighting to be done,” Chopra said.

Part of the series’ success is due to the access they have to archives from the beginning of McGregor’s career.

“In terms of the access it goes back even further than that and that is what makes these things compelling it’s like you just have so much to draw from,” he said. “Probably hundreds of hours of footage and ended up making a four-hour series out of it.”

What makes McGregor a successful fighter, according to Chopra, is that “at his core, he’s the same guy that he was when he had none of that going back to Dublin when he was a kid and just trying to figure it out. He has this voracious appetite to compete and to be the best.”

McGregor has put a lot of effort into trying to overcome the mental aspects of the sport. “For him, the game is 100 percent mental and so it’s a mental thing like he’s trying to figure it out and that is the thing that makes you know some people great and it’s that ability to constantly be you know deconstructing okay and how do I get better?” Chopra explained. “And you know I think that’s the thing that’s part of Conor’s DNA that’ll sort of push him.” 

Chopra shows these qualities in McGregor when he offers one example from the series after McGregor has just lost a fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov in 2018. After McGregor lost, there was a lot of chaos in the ring. Chopra describes how when Conor goes back to the locker room he said, “I lost that’s the only thing that matters.”

Chopra noted that it’s McGregor’s ability, “to remove himself actually from all the noise and just focus on what matters, which for him is like okay how do I take this loss and sort of turn it into success? What do I learn from this? And I just I thought like you know for all the noise that’s always surrounding this guy, self-generated most of it, he does have this presence this ability to not be distracted to just focus and that’s a unique gift and I think you know one of the main reasons for his success.”

Transcript:

Q: What period in Conor McGregor’s life do you cover?

Chopra: So well we started filming you know really in 2019 just in terms when I got really involved in the Project and have been following it ever since, but I have a co-director named Darragh Mccarthy on this project whose really been part of the McGregor team. I would say going back to 2017 and so he had built this relationship and just had this presence in Conor’s world inside and outside the Octagon going back that much time. Plus you have in Conor one of the most documented, you know, highly sought-after, the media endlessly cover him. So you had this great archive from which to draw. So again, the production probably from 2019 to the present day, but in terms of the access it goes back even further than that and that is what makes these things compelling it’s like you just have so much to draw from. Probably hundreds of hours of footage and ended up making a four-hour series out of it.

Q: Why does McGregor continue to compete despite his age?

Chopra: You know I think he’s a fighter and you know yes he’s had a lot of success he’s certainly made a lot of money and you know accumulated a lot of fame, he’s an international icon, and yet at his core, he’s the same guy that he was when he had none of that going back to Dublin when he was a kid and just trying to figure it out. He has this voracious appetite to compete and to be the best and I don’t think, you know at some point, sure, physically he won’t be able to do it he’s, I guess in fighting years you know he’s into his mid-30s that’s getting up there, but there have certainly been others who have gone on done it for longer than that. But I, you know, Conor also has a work ethic that he’s willing to do the work and I’ve never been around him where he compromises on that, so I think there’s more fighting to be done and at some point, there won’t be and yet the stage will change but I think this guy is here to stay. I mean he’s prolific, he’s ambitious and I said he’s willing to do the work so he’s not going anywhere anytime soon. 

Q: What does McGregor mean by “I’ve barely unlocked my potential?”

Chopra: Yeah so look I think he’s, like I said, he’s ambitious. He’s certainly, you know one of Conor’s gifts is like his resilience, like his willfulness and I’ve worked with other athletes and Tom Brady has told me many times he’s like you know it’s not the seven Super Bowls that I won it’s the three that I lost you know because it’s from those that I learned the most and that you know I went back and I questioned like why did those happen? And I tweaked it and kept on going. So, I think that is the thing that makes you know there’s been losing in the last few years like there’s been some tough losses, but Conor is the one that says you don’t get into this game if you’re afraid of losing and so I think, he also says you know like for him the game is 100 percent mental and so it’s a mental thing like he’s trying to figure it out and that is the thing that makes you know some people great and it’s that ability to constantly be you know deconstructing okay and how do I get better? And you know I think that’s the thing that’s part of Conor’s DNA that’ll sort of push him. He’s, by the way, he’s 34 years old there’s a long life ahead of him. You know who knows how many more years inside the Octagon but you know there’s I think a lot left for him to accomplish and he’s willing to do the work to get there.

Q: What surprised you the most about working with McGregor?

Chopra: You know there’s this moment after the Khabib fight, so you know he fought Khabib, I think it was in 2018 or something like that, and it was crazy you know possibly the most hyped fight in the history of UFC and then afterward, so he loses, and afterward like there’s all this chaos inside the octagon like you know typical Conor McGregor UFC chaos like people climbing in the ring, fights outside the ring all that sort of stuff. He gets hustled back to the locker room, Dana White comes in, and everyone’s talking about like oh my god all the stuff that happened after the ring and after the fight and Conor says you know I lost that’s the only thing that matters that’s that he says and he has this ability to remove himself actually from all the noise and just focus on what matters, which for him is like okay how do I take this loss and sort of turn it into success? What do I learn from this? And I just I thought like you know for all the noise that’s always surrounding this guy, self-generated most of it, he does have this presence this ability to not be distracted to just focus and that’s a unique gift and I think you know one of the main reasons for his success.