It’s hard to tell whether bringing Paulie Malignaggi to his training camp was a terrible distraction or a work of pure genius by Conor McGregor. The UFC lightweight champion has made a point of using his training partners to create shine for himself and an enigmatic aura that he may be a dramatically better boxer than most pundits would give him credit for.
In the case of Malignaggi, that narrative has been working overtime. What started as a picture of McGregor showboating, as well as some chatter about the two men putting in some hard rounds, has turned into a full blown war of words.