Crunch Time
Over the last year there hasn’t been a bigger star in mixed martial arts star than current UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor.
The Irish champion changed the landscape of the sport when he defeated Chad Mendes to become the UFC interim featherweight champion in July 2015 and knocked out then-titleholder Jose Aldo in 13 seconds, at UFC 194, to unify the 145-pound championship. Unfortunately McGregor’s year began with a loss as Nate Diaz submitted him in the second round of their welterweight fight at UFC 196, last Saturday. Diaz was a replacement for McGregor’s original opponent, lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos, who had to withdraw from his bout with McGregor because of a foot injury. Had McGregor fought and defeated the lightweight champion, he would have been the first fighter in UFC history to hold belts in two different weight classes.
Some fans don’t feel McGregor deserves the opportunities he’s getting from the UFC, as well as the $1 million paycheck he received from the Diaz fight. Others are put off by his attitude and showboating inside and outside of the cage. Critics also argue that McGregor isn’t the most skilled fighter in MMA, especially after the loss to Diaz.
Even if McGregor isn’t the No. 1 fighter in terms of talent, he is perhaps the best athlete when it comes to talking trash, selling his fights and grabbing the attention of longtime and casual fans. I watched UFC 196 at The Globe Bar and Grill and it was packed with people cheering for McGregor.
If I owned an MMA organization, I would want a fighter like McGregor under contract because he would help boost my business and bring in new fans.
Like many fighters McGregor is loud and brash. He will get in your face and go to great lengths to mess with his opponents.
After McGregor defeated Dennis Siver, he left the octagon and walked up to Aldo and challenged him to a fight. During a press conference, McGregor grabbed Aldo’s featherweight title and taunted him. Some fans felt McGregor’s actions were disrespectful while others were amused by them. Either way, it generated a lot of attention and press for the UFC’s featherweight division, which wasn’t the case before McGregor came along. Aldo was a great champion - he had seven successful title defenses - and was regarded as the No.3 pound-for-pound fighter in the world, but he didn’t really go out of his way to promote his fights.
When McGregor and Aldo did happen, UFC 194 generated 1.2 million pay per view buys, the second-most in UFC history behind UFC 100, which had 1.6 million buys. The current buy rates for UFC 196 haven’t been released as of press time.
However, McGregor isn’t all trash talk and intimidation. There’s a humanity and humbleness to him that attracts fans.
Like many fighters, McGregor came from humble beginnings. He was living on welfare and struggling to make it on the European MMA scene. It took years of hard work and determination for him to get where he is. Most of us can relate to McGregor because we’ve had to overcome adversity to gain success.
McGregor was also humble in defeat. After Diaz beat him, he commended his opponent for taking the fight on short notice.
McGregor isn’t the first athlete in combat sports to use trash talking and intimidation to sell fights. Former UFC middleweight title contender Chael Sonnen wasn’t the best fighter in terms of skills - he was good, but he never became a world champion - yet his trash talking and verbal skills made fans believe that he was as good as any of the UFC’s champions at that time.
In boxing Muhammad Ali, who McGregor idolizes, called himself “the greatest” and spun rhymes, detailing how and when he was going to knock out his opponents.
The dynamic of a fighter like McGregor is people will pay their hard-earned money and travel great distances to the arena to either see him win or lose.
Even with this loss to Diaz, McGregor is still worth a lot of money to the UFC. He’s the featherweight champion and he’ll probably be the main event the next time he fights.
When the UFC names McGregor’s challenger, the Irishman’s trash talking will commence and fans will be watching.
Al Stover can be reached at [email protected].
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