He may be on top of the world, he may be defeating Brazilians with nothing more than his aura (we jest) but Conor McGregor can't turn back time. He may well be flying the Irish flag on a global stage at this moment in time but he's not the first to have done that.
We discussed McGregor's ignorance on our daily sports podcast, The Racket:
We've all been waiting for McGregor's first social media update after the news of Rafael dos Anjos' withdrawal and now we have it. But it's got absolutely nothing to do with Dos Anjos, nothing to do with Nate Diaz and nothing to do with that two eight jump up to welterweight.
Instead, it's promotion for the latest issue of Sports Illustrated which features the Dubliner on the cover. Having posted the cover on Twitter and Instagram, McGregor was quick to point out the historical significance of it.
It is an honor to be the first Irishman to grace the cover of Sports Illustrated! What a time to be alive. I am now praised and rewarded for my ability to kill another man with my bare hands. My lineage are smiling down upon me. I am blessed.
That's all well and good but as quite a few people have pointed out, that's not actually true. Here's Ronnie Delany in 1959.
Then there's Eamonn Coghlan, who was there three times, as he was keen to point out himself. And as an aside, we can't tell you how much we love the fact that Eamonn Coghlan has those magazines ready to go just in case an opportunity like this comes up.
@vinnymulvey @TheNotoriousMMA @Ian_madigan Another record for you to chase Conor! pic.twitter.com/3WVsCKCN3R
— Eamonn Coghlan (@EamonnCoghlan1) February 24, 2016
And, more recently, there's Rory McIlroy.
