Stream It Or Skip It: ‘McGregor Forever’ on Netflix, a New Documentary Look at the MMA Superstar

Is Conor McGregor done for? This question–asked by a chorus of unseen pundits near the beginning of the first episode–is the central question of McGregor Forever, a new four-part documentary series airing on Netflix. After a series of injuries and defeats, the man once considered the face of mixed martial arts fighting finds his career at a crossroads. Does he have one more comeback left in him?

MCGREGOR FOREVER: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: Conor McGregor sits in a hospital bed, clad in a hospital gown, looking gaunt and a bit stunned. He reflects on his career, and his recent setbacks, before a quick cut to footage from his fight with MMA rival Dustin Poirier, one that resulted in a stinging defeat for the one-time champion. Sitting defeated on the floor of the Octagon, McGregor screams at his opponent. “This is not over!”

The Gist: In today’s sports world, Conor McGregor is as big a name as they come. One of the world’s top-earning athletes and one of the most successful fighters in MMA history, he’s been an inescapable presence in recent years. But McGregor Forever finds him struggling with adversity, focusing on a series of recent losses that suggest his career might be on the downslope. Over the course of four episodes, loosely structured around his four most recent fights, we see the superstar face his own mortality.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Listen… every multi-episode sports documentary wants to be like ESPN’s Michael Jordan-focused The Last Dance, whether they admit it or not. Most of them fall short, and McGregor Forever doesn’t reach those heights either. But it’s hard not to think of it when watching someone struggling with the potential end of a celebrated career.

Our Take: Can Conor McGregor keep fighting?

That’s the question at the heart of Netflix’s McGregor Forever. One of the world’s highest-earning athletes, long a massive draw for pay-per-view fights, he’s faced a string of setbacks in recent years. Between injuries, losses, and the march of time in general, there’s a real question as to whether he can regain his place as one of the top fighters in the world. McGregor Forever doesn’t answer that question, because only a return to the Octagon can. But it does offer some compelling moments as we see a man known for his immense attitude and foul-mouthed boasting faced with the prospect of losing.

The first episode largely centers around McGregor’s much-hyped 2018 bout with Khabib Nurmadomegov at UFC 229. The fight was to be a comeback for McGregor–a chance to regain his UFC Lightweight Championship belt after losing it during a period of inactivity (including his cross-sport boxing match with Floyd Mayweather). It also followed a lot of trash talk (even by McGregor’s lofty standards), and an attack by McGregor and his contingent on Nurmagomedov’s tour bus at UFC media day earlier that year.

Of course, that comeback didn’t materialize as planned–Nurmadomegov won by submission in the fourth round, beginning a chain of events that look to many like the winding down of McGregor’s storied career. In the bowels of the arena after the fight, UFC founder Dana White attempts to console McGregor, but he doesn’t hear it. “I was beat, and that’s that.”

Any single-athlete documentary has to be approached with a wary eye–is it journalism, or hagiography? McGregor Forever seems to be consciously making its case for the former with brief nods to the fighter’s various legal troubles, but those moments pass so quickly that it seems more like smoke-screen than evidence of a truly balanced picture.

Ultimately, McGregor Forever wants you to like Conor McGregor, and despite some genuinely interesting peeks into his personal life, it’s a tall ask given the fighter’s well-earned persona.

Sex and Skin: No sex, but considering the subject matter, it’s not exactly PBS Kids, y’know.

Parting Shot: Coming off his loss to Nurmagomedov in UFC 229, McGregor faces real doubts as to the future of his career. We dwell on this for a moment, and then McGregor zooms off in his sports car. Introspection can only last for so long.

Sleeper Star: There’s not a lot of room for sleeper stars in shows titled after a single person, but early scenes with McGregor at home in Dublin with his partner and young child–including a gender-reveal party for his next child–show a softer side of the brash and often-controversial fighter.

“Now, it was the adrenaline, and I know I would’ve calmed down,” McGregor says, reflecting on his most recent loss to Dustin Poirier. “Part of me was thinking, imagine if it was just taken away from me like that? I would be a different person, and it was a bit scary, to be honest. But… it’s McGregor forever.”

[cue Leo-DiCaprio-pointing-at-television meme]

Our Call: SKIP IT. If you’re a big fan of MMA–and a fan of Conor McGregor–you’ll find things to like in McGregor Forever. But for the casual viewer–or the McGregor hater–it’s not going to change your mind.

Scott Hines is an architect, blogger and proficient internet user based in Louisville, Kentucky who publishes the widely-beloved Action Cookbook Newsletter.