Conor McGregor: Notorious

Gavin Fitzgerald's documentary moves almost as fast as its subject. It's a tightly edited masterclass in visceral storytelling; eschewing voice over and heavy handed editorializing, Notorious shows how the Dublin lad become a superstar through work, willpower and wit. McGregor's sins - that the sport he dominates is violent, that he talks loud - remain unforgivable to some, but Notorious wastes no time with begrudgers. It's too busy telling a story with as much drama as a cage fight. Check it out, fight fans.

I was actually very surprised to see the amount of footage in camera time McGregor actually had in this documentary. I initially assumed that it would be just clips of him fighting and nothing much else. But, there is a cameraman that follows McGregor throughout his early career (before the Mendes fight) and shows you what his training is like, sparring with others and his home life. What I personally found most interesting is what Conor and his trainers were like right before and after the fights. This doc gave me a real insight to how not just Conor but all UFC fighters are treated and how they behave before fights and press conferences etc.

Just some things I would have liked (didn't really take anything away from this documentary): More time with John Kavanagh and a bit more in depth into Conor's training methods etc and for the documentary to have gone up to the Eddie Alvarez fight, where he became double champ (obviously they had stopped filming after Diaz 2, but it just would have been cool to see Conor behind the scenes with two belts).

But, if you love Conor or just simply love the UFC I highly recommend as it gives fantastic insights into the lives of fighters.

A slow starter of a film I was pleasantly surprised as I've found the sports documentary sub genre (if you will) to be very hitor miss to say the least, however this was special. Precise and straight to its point the craftsmanship on show is on an entirely different level and the story is a special one too. Full of interesting and layered "characters" that are merely carrying out daily business the outcome was amazing and compelling. One that feels timeless I highly recommend you view it at least once, and fingers crossed there's a follow up in years to come to round off an outstanding career

Although completely one-sided, Conor McGregor: Notorious is still a highly immersive & thoroughly fascinating documentary that inspires, motivates & above all celebrates the rags-to-riches journey of the most charismatic MMA fighter to ever step into the octagon & delves deeper into the aura of the Irishman whose larger-than-life persona is unlike anything the world of mixed martial arts has ever seen.

It's hard to fault this movie. Whatever you might think of him, his arrogance, it seems to make sense when you see how hard he has worked to be where he is. Very inspiring, highlighting some of his achievements and the way the movie captures clips of him before his success, it is as if he knew all along that he would one day be a household name. Watch it when you feel demotivated.