Conor McGregor may wear fighting gloves rather than a baseball mitt, but that doesn’t mean the controversial UFC fighter isn’t interested in a World Series that pits the Boston Red Sox against the L.A. Dodgers.
In fact, McGregor dropped by the Engine 33 Ladder 15 firehouse on Boylston Street in Boston over the weekend, according to Page Six, to surprise firefighters with World Series tickets that he purchased ahead of Game 1.
“You guys are true, proper heroes,” he said when he stopped by Beantown’s Back Bay firehouse. “It’s an honor to be here and see this true, proper fire station. We brought gifts — tickets to the World Series. That’s [out of] respect for you guys.”
McGregor is on tour promoting his new Proper No. Twelve whiskey and, for every case sold, $5 will be donated to first responders around the world.
So, it was only fitting that McGregor left bottles of his whiskey with the firefighters. While he was there, he also slid down the fire pole and FaceTimed with some of the first responsders’ children.
With only a handful of game tickets and about 40 firefighters based at the station, the chief joked with McGregor, and said “We’ll have to fight for these like you.”
However, the firefighters did something far better. They decided to donate the tickets to the Boston Firefighters Burn Foundation so that child burn victims who are receiving treatment at Shriners Hospital for Children can attend the game.
“It was very generous on his [McGregor’s] behalf to donate the tickets, but the firefighters felt it’d have a larger impact by turning it around and donating them to some children who wouldn’t normally have that opportunity,” said Marc Sanders, spokesman for the Boston Fire Department.
Five children who are physically capable of traveling to Fenway Park have been selected to attend Tuesday night’s Game 1, and will be accompanied by multiple nurses and/or physical therapists, according to the Boston Globe.
What a knockout win for McGregor, the firefighters and the group of children who get to experience a little joy in their time of tremendous pain.