Conor McGregor is popping up everywhere except inside the Octagon at the moment.
The Irish MMA icon has not fought in the UFC since he broke his shin in a defeat to Duston Poirier in July 2021.
He has teased a return in 2025 but with no date set has plenty of time of his hands.
McGregor has shown up at motorbike rallies, bare-knuckle boxing events, NBA games and now college basketball.
For a man nicknamed ‘Notorious’ with good reason thanks to his wild lifestyle, the choice of game raised a few eyebrows.
The former two-weight world champion was at the Marriott Center for BYU’s clash with Baylor.
He saw the Cougars seal a thrilling overtime win in front of a hyped fanbase.
Videos of the Irishman were all over social media, including one of him leading the famous ROC section in a ‘B-Y-U’ chant.
Fans were loving the crossover moment with McGregor’s choice of a school known for strict discipline leading to questions.
“Conor McGregor leading the BYU student section in a chant may be the most random sports crossover of the year,” posted one.
“Good lawd that man could never get admitted with the honor code they got,” added another.
A third asked: “Did they give him the ‘no cursing’ talk, or are we just raw-dogging chaos?
“Provo, Utah might be the last place on Earth I expected to see him in,” a fourth commented.
“Conor McGregor looks absolutely thrilled to be at BYU… He has no idea what sport this is,” joked a fifth.
McGregor seems to have known exactly where he was and loved the spectacle.
“It’s so crazy, it’s so fast-paced,” McGregor told BYUtv’s Spencer Linton. “The crowd is incredible.
“I’m grateful to be here, so happy to be here and see this. I always wondered what the college (basketball) game would be like, and I’m very, very, very impressed.”
McGregor is in Utah due to his links with Orem-based sports nutrition brand Bucked Up.
He has collaborated with the company on a range of sports energy drinks to add to his growing business portfolio.
“That’s probably one of the most famous people I’ve ever seen,” BYU guard Dawson Baker said. “I was kind of thinking, he’s seeing this environment and he’s been in some crazy environments himself.
“I kind of took a step back and thought, ‘Wow, I’m really a part of this,’ which was really cool.
“So yeah, it’s definitely special. The (Marriott Center) environment was super good tonight. It was so loud and it definitely had an effect on the game.”
McGregor was courtside for the Milwaukee Bucks vs Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City on Monday.
His encounter with towering 7ft 1in Bucks center Brook Lopez went viral.
The Dubliner chatted to ‘Splash Mountain’ and asked him to stand up before getting into a faceoff.
“He asked me how tall I was. I let him know,” Lopez said.
“He asked me to stand up, and I did. And I knew at that point once I got up, I had to size him up.
“I had to do a little something. I’ve seen the face-offs before, so I knew I had to do my part.
“Now, if something’s going to happen, maybe Dame [Lillard] can be my promoter or Dame can be my manager or whatever, teach me to fight because I got nothing.
“I got nothing. So I’m really going to rely on Dame for that.”
