"Anti-social behavior" - Psychologist breaks down infamous Conor McGregor bus incident, Jones-Cormier exchange, Covington's Brazil comments, and more 

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Psychologist (left), Conor McGregor (top left), Jon Jones & Daniel Cormier (centre), Colby Covington (right) [Images courtesy of fight front, mmaweekly.com and ufc on YouTube]

Fans have been given some professional insight into incidents such as Conor McGregor's bus attack. A psychologist recently broke down key moments from fighters throughout the history of the UFC.

Colby Covington's post-fight comments on Brazil were analyzed first. Prior to defeating Demian Maia via unanimous decision in Sao Paulo, 'Chaos' was on the brink of being cut from the UFC. The moment that followed his win was certainly memorable and is now referred to as his 'heel turn'.

Covington grabbed the microphone and spouted abuse about Brazil as the crowd erupted into boos. On the incident, the psychologist said:

"If he was to be cut by the UFC, this would be an obstacle to him achieving his goals, to attaining resources, to attaining status. When there is an obstacle to your drive system, it can activate your threat system. As a response, this might lead to feelings of embarrassment, anxiety, of anger... But Colby's response was to fight... Every bad guy calls the home town or the home country a 'dump' for a crowd reaction."

Next up was Jon Jones versus Daniel Cormier at UFC 178. Ahead of the fight, the two men appeared live on TV for an interview with ESPN.

During the interaction, Jones appeared calm and respectful to 'DC'. However, when the programme was finished, the camera's caught 'Bones' putting his ear piece back in and becoming abusive towards Cormier, calling him a "p***y."

Giving her take on that incident, the psychologist said:

"When I look at this, it appears as though Jon Jones is coming in quite aggresively, with what he calls 'DC'. I would hypothesize that this is about perhaps aserting power, wanting to come across as quite dangerous and aggressive and get into 'DC's head a little. What's interesting is Cormier laughs... 'DC' comes back by negatively referring to Jones's character. I would hypothesize that this is an area Jones is much less secure with and less comfortable discussing."

Lastly, perhaps most famously, was Conor McGregor's 2018 attack on a UFC bus that Khabib Nurmagomedov was on.

The Dagestani got into an altercation with the Irishman's teammate Artlem Lobov, which prompted Conor McGregor to fly from Dublin to New York and throw a dolly through the bus window.

"This wasn't completely reactive because Conor had to get on a plane... It's more instrumental. It's planned and thought out, and trying to cause harm to someone. That's because of our evolutionary requirement to feel more in control and feel less threatened... It's anti-social behaviour. Acting in an entirely relalitevly aggresive way is not always the best response. We now have added layers of morality, legal responsibilities and we know this incident had a wide impact, there were consequences."

Watch a Pyschologist react to MMA's controversial moments on the Fight Front YouTube channel here:

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Conor McGregor edges closer to UFC return

UFC star Conor McGregor has been exciting fans lately. The Irishman has been sharing more footage of himself training as he nears the end of his road to recovery. McGregor suffered a freak leg-break against Dustin Poirier in 2021, but has since vowed that he isn't finished in the UFC.

The break required surgery and resulted in the 'Notorious' star needing a metal rod placed in his leg. That doesn't seem to have slowed him down as McGregor is still expected to make his UFC return later this year.

Although he has remained active and vocal on social media, fans don't yet know who his opponent will be. While callouts from Michael Chandler and Charles Oliviera seem exciting, Conor McGregor will likely decide when, where and who he will face in the octagon.

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