Andreja Stojanovic
No stranger to controversy, the Irish mixed martial arts (MMA) Conor McGregor was recently held accountable in a rape case stemming from an incident in Dublin in late 2018.
After the court ruled against McGregor in a civil case and ordered him to pay the victim about €250,000 (~$263,125), the celebrity’s already waning popularity took another major hit.
As Finbold research found, between November 22—the day of the ruling—and December 2—the last full day by the time of writing—McGregor lost as many as 160,918 Instagram followers.
This total means that the UFC star has lost an average of 14,629 fans per day during the 11 elapsed days. The worst losses came on November 24, when 42,719 fans clicked ‘unfollow.’
McGregor’s wallet hit harder than his Instagram
Specifically, as of December 2, McGregor still boasted more than 47.3 million Instagram followers, while real-time data on December 3 shows a further loss of 2,000 fans on the platform – 0.004% daily loss.
Adding to his social media woes, he also saw significant losses to his business ventures.
The deluge of lost sponsorships and partnerships – something likely to cause significantly more harm to McGregor – has been making headlines in recent weeks.
For example, hundreds of supermarkets across Great Britain and Ireland have discontinued using the fighter’s image and name in marketing and within their stores. The same goes for Proximo Spirits, the company that bought the MMA star’s whiskey brand several years earlier, per a December 1 BBC report.
Crypto projects and rivals start kicking McGregor when he’s down
Elsewhere, Conor McGregor has been targeted by several projects seeking to take advantage of his fall from grace. For example, Khabib Nurmagomedov – one of the Irish fighter’s rivals in the octagon – endorsed a cryptocurrency project called Convict McGregor (CONVICT) in late November.
However, it is worth pointing out that despite CONVICT stating it is attempting to raise money for Conor McGregor’s victims’ legal fees, many suspect it to be a traditional cryptocurrency scam.
McGregor gains as much from Logan Paul ‘beef’ as he lost from courtroom defeat
Finally, Finbold also uncovered that legal issues carry equal if not less weight than celebrity ‘beef’ on social media.
Specifically, between November 17 and November 22, Conor McGregor gained more than 100,000 followers due to heightened visibility stemming from an online confrontation with Jake Paul.
Jake Paul, who recently fought a blockbuster match with the legendary Mike Tyson, challenged the Irish fighter to be his next opponent.
McGregor not only rejected the match but also played into a popular meme that emerged from the age difference between Tyson and Paul, and identified Mitch McConnell – the 82-year-old American politician, as the influencer’s ideal next opponent.
