PSA: Broken bones don’t heal well at sea.
UFC superstar Conor McGregor looks at yachts and gets hungry. Or at least he did. In 2017, after ignominiously losing to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in a matchup promoted as “The Biggest Fight in Combat Sports History” (which—no), the Irish mixed martial artist headed to Ibiza for a friend’s wedding, but also to lick his wounds. I use “wounds” lightly here, as aside from a couple tags to the face delivered by his undefeated adversary, the fight was fairly lackluster. It also served as a precursor to the current phenomenon of big ticket amateur boxing matches and Jake Paul, but that’s a story for another time.
And as for the psychic scarring? The Notorious, so named for his big, walloping punches—and even bigger mouth—reportedly made $100 million. Once deposited on Spanish soil, he wasted no time in chartering a yacht. On a picture posted to his Instagram account, he can be seen standing on the bow with the caption “The 60g.” While that might sound like the upfront deposit for a weekend charter, MMA fans know it’s a callback to a time, not too long ago, when he was living on welfare, and a $60,000 “Knock Out bonus” was considered a lot of money. Now, that’s chump change. I think he’s doing just fine.
And yet the excursion proved revelatory: thar be krakens! Or, in his own words:
Earlier in the trip, McGregor had playfully referred to having a “wealth belly.” But it appears that sailing yacht A rejiggered his internal calculations. “This is an eye opening level of opulence to witness first hand,” he wrote. “To me, it is truly motivating. I’m starting to think I don’t have a wealth belly just yet. I’m more just rich fat now. I must keep eating.”
Well, four years later, he finally has his movable feast. On Tuesday, McGregor, the world’s highest-paid athlete according to Forbes, unveiled his new boat, Tecnomar’s Lamborghini 63. (Fat rich? That belly is looking more and more like Santa Claus.) He also has a broken leg, after losing to Dustin Poirier at UFC 264, and media outlets from the New York Post to TMZ seem to be conflating the two. “Conor previously said it’ll take about 6 weeks on crutches to recover from his injury … and now we know where to find him if we need him.” Yeah, in bed. Broken bones and fast boats don’t mix.
But when he’s healthy, I’m sure the 33-year-old flamboyant showman will make full use of the MAN V-12 diesels that produce 2,000 horsepower apiece. At 63 feet in length, the boat should behave more like a high-performance offshore racer thanks to generous amounts of carbon fiber that give it a 48,000-pound displacement. With a top end in the 60-knot range, classifying it as a “day boat” feels like a grave injustice. This is rarefied air, and worthy of the Lamborghini name.
The 63 moniker is also a nod to the year the Italian luxury sport car marque was founded, and the roadster’s influence is everywhere. You can see it in the helm positioning on centerline, and the angular, sharp design that flows from the transom up the swim steps to the sunpad. As a partnership between the Italian Sea Group and Lamborghini’s Centro Stile, inspiration came directly from the Lamborghini Sián FKP 37, the first hybrid production Lambo. However, bits and pieces of other models found their way into the design. According to the builders, the 63’s lines are equally inspired by the iconic Lamborghini Miura and Countach of the 60s and 70s, while the bow lights are a tribute to the Terzo Millennio concept car, meaning “third millennium” in Italian.
McGregor’s boat is number 12 in the line’s limited edition run, and a subtle nod to his Proper No. Twelve whisky brand, which he recently sold his majority stake in alongside his co-founders in a whopping $600 million deal. Now that his wealth belly is bursting his spandex britches, expect to see a lot more of McGregor the yachtsman. (Not to be confused with MacGregor Yachts.) Maybe at sea, the southpaw can try and escape the creeping nightmares of a bloodied, shuffling Nate Diaz zombie that just won’t stay down.
McGregor is reaching the age of a young Ernest Hemingway, who, while enjoying his time in Bimini, offered a monetary reward for anyone that could go three rounds with him on the white sand. If the ghost of the legendary pugilist inspires his island-hopping adventures, I have two words for future challengers: Good luck.
