In an effort to eliminate spitting and the launching of ‘snot rockets’ during fights, Conor McGregor is urging UFC to revise its regulations.
The former light-and-featherweight world champion labelled the act as a ‘ridiculous habit’ in a series of tweets on Saturday night which have since been deleted.
The 34-year-old was one of many who had tuned in for UFC San Antonio to watch the headline fight of the night between Cory Sandhagen and Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera in the bantamweight division.
However, McGregor couldn’t even last until the end of the fight before finding an issue with what the two fighters were doing in the octagon between rounds.
At the end of the fourth round, McGregor took to social media to express his disgust at what he had been seeing.
Conor McGregor wants the UFC to introduce points deductions for fighters caught spitting
Cory Sandhagen (pictured) and his opponent Marlon Vera were both covered in bodily fluids after the first round but blood was not the issue at UFC San Antonio
What do you guys think of this rule change Conor proposed? pic.twitter.com/gTMYEytcby
— Amy Kaplan (@PhotoAmy33) March 26, 2023
With both fighters covered in blood and sweat towards the end of the night, McGregor’s biggest issue was with the other bodily fluids on show.
McGregor was disgusted at having to watch Vera spit on the canvas and Sandhagen spray the contents of his nose all over the floor of the octagon.
A series of posts from McGregor’s Twitter account read: ‘There should be no spitting or snot rockets permitted in the octagon whatsoever. Should be a point deduction.’
‘One gollier of a spit and two snot rockets each nostril just now from both fighters at the end of the 4th. It’s a ridiculous habit some people have. It should be abolished via threat of point deduction’, a follow up tweet shortly after read.
A gollier is an old Irish slang term for fetching up the phlegm from inside the nose and into the mouth before spitting it out on the floor.
The messages on McGregor’s social media feeds have since been deleted.
Sandhagen eventually came out on top of the fight against Vera thanks to a controversial split decision with scores of 47-48, 50-45, and 49-46.
Many believed that Sandhagen was comfortably ahead after the first two rounds of the fight on Sunday evening, with the third one much more closely contested.
Sandhagen came out on top on a split decision after five rounds on Saturday night
Many were confused by the split decision given that Sandhagen dominated for four rounds
However, Sandhagen was widely believed to have also won the fourth and fifth rounds as well, leading to a few turned heads when one of the referee’s score cards came out in favour of Vera.
McGregor himself has not fought professionally in almost two years since he lost twice in succession to Dustin Poirier in UFC 257 and UFC 264 in 2021.
Whether he is able to influence Dana White and the rest of the UFC management structure to change the competition’s rules and ban spitting and ‘snot rockets’ during their events remains to be seen.
