ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith: Conor McGregor is ‘really getting on my damn nerves’

ESPN talking head Stephen A. Smith has a bone to pick with Conor McGregor.

The sports personality is getting sick of seeing McGregor’s name in the headlines for starting trouble outside the Octagon.

McGregor, the former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion, was arrested — and later released — on Monday morning for smashing a man’s phone outside the Fontainebleau Miami Beach hotel. After smashing it, McGregor is reported to have picked up the phone and walked away.

Smith, who is likely to be talking about McGregor and the UFC much more now that the premiere MMA promotion has signed with ESPN, said ‘The Notorious’ is ‘getting on my damn nerves.’

“Conor McGregor is really getting on my damn nerves,” Smith said on Tuesday’s edition of First Take, per BJPenn.com’s Mike Pendleton. “I’m really getting sick and tired of him being in the news for something other than winning inside the UFC Octagon. That’s what I’m getting tired of. It’s been years since we’ve seen Conor McGregor actually win a fight.”

“We saw him in the news for throwing a dolly at the bus, we saw him in the news for this [his latest arrest], we seen him in the press conferences, but when he had to step inside the Octagon against Nurmagomedov, we saw what happened. That was a butt-whooping. We saw him in the ring trying to box against Floyd Mayweather, we saw what happened to him there. The last time we saw Conor McGregor win, to be this tough guy — and I love Conor McGregor, I love his mouth, I love how he tries to back it up, I love the fact that he’s a showman, he’s worth the money, he’s worth the price of admission.”

As well as facing more legal trouble, McGregor is currently serving a six-month suspension for his post-fight brawl with Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229. The Irishman lost to Khabib via fourth-round submission, and is eligible to return to the Octagon on April 6.