Conor McGregor fans are buying empty Proper No. Twelve bottles for outrageous prices on eBay

Conor McGregor fans are a passionate bunch. They show up in droves whenever the Irishman fights, be it in Dublin, New York City or Las Vegas. They fill arenas with pro-McGregor chants and seas of Irish flags. They get tattoos of him. And according to a report from the Irish Sun, some of them are buying empty bottles of the MMA star’s popular Irish whiskey, Proper No. Twelve, on eBay.

Apparently, empty bottles of Proper No. Twelve have been listed on eBay for prices as high as $90 — though it’s possible some do still contain whiskey.

“Conor McGregor branded UFC whiskey 750ml bottle,” the description for one item, currently listed at $69.92, says. “Carefully top opened and emptied keeping seal in tact as much as possible.”

One Conor McGregor fan named Eric Hammer told The Irish Sun that he sold an empty bottle of Proper No. Twelve for $40 — $9 more than the $31 he paid for it.

“It was surprising that I could sell the empty bottle for more than I bought it for,” he said. “But the obsession with anything McGregor-related is no joke.”

This fan’s resourcefulness actually got the attention of Conor McGregor, who apparently told him “I appreciate the support and the hustle.”

Given the way that Conor McGregor’s whiskey is flying off the shelves, it’s no surprise that there’s a surplus of empty bottles kicking around. Stores all over Ireland and the US have faced shortages of the whiskey, and several have imposed limits on how much a single customer can buy per visit.

Conor McGregor last fought in the main event of UFC 229, when he was defeated by UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. The fight was his first since a headline-dominating boxing match with Floyd Mayweather Jr. in August of 2017. He had not competed in MMA since November of 2016, when he knocked out Eddie Alvarez to capture the UFC lightweight strap.

While nothing is official with respect to his next fight, he says he plans to fight again in 2019. 

Will you be purchasing an empty Proper No. Twelve bottle on eBay, or is your preference for full bottles?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 11/28/2018.