McGregor seeking part ownership of UFC is smart business move

Last weekend, the UFC staged its first event in New York City at Madison Square Garden, which has had a plethora of historical combat sports memories within its walls — and it added another moment.

In the main event of UFC 205, the company’s biggest star and featherweight champion, Conor McGregor, knocked out Eddie Alvarez in the second round to win the lightweight title. McGregor became the first fighter in UFC history to simultaneously hold championships in two different weight classes.

Fighters like McGregor are a rare breed. While critics would consider his skillset subpar compared to other MMA fighters — although it was enough to defeat Alvarez — he makes up for it in his aggressiveness in the cage and his ability to trash talk and garner attention — good and bad — outside of it. It is what has helped him sell out the UFC events he fights on.

I said this in a March 10 column, but if I was an MMA promoter, I would want a fighter like McGregor on my roster because he would help boost my business and bring in new fans.

But now McGregor wants to be more involved in the UFC outside of the octagon.

Leading up to this fight with Alvarez, the Irishman teased a surprise announcement that he would unveil after the bout. During the post-fight press conference, McGregor made two announcements. The first was that his wife is pregnant, which some folks, including myself, speculated. The other announcement was that he wants to have ownership in the UFC.

“I’ve been happy to continue doing what I’m doing, but I feel I’ve outworn the previous contract,” he said during the press conference.

In July, the UFC was sold to Hollywood agency WME-IMG for $4.2 billion. The agency has a list of celebrity investors who have small ownerships in the company, including Cam Newton, Serena Williams and Tom Brady.

There are some fighters and fans who take exception that celebrities who have never set foot in the UFC now own a piece of the company and McGregor seems no different.

“Conan O’Brien owns (a piece of the) UFC nowadays, where’s my share,” McGregor added.

In the last couple of years, the UFC has seemingly relied on McGregor’s presence to sell big pay-per-view events. In the last year, McGregor-headlined events accounted for 3.25 million pay-per-view buys — and that was before UFC 205.

The UFC reportedly pulled in a $17.7 million gate at Madison Square Garden for their event, surpassing the record of $13.5M set by the boxing match between Evander Holyfield vs. Lennox Lewis in 1999. The event is also expected to break the 1.65 million pay per view buys set by UFC 202, which was headlined by the McGregor vs. Nate Diaz fight, in August.

On one hand, McGregor’s demands are a bit outrageous. The UFC is a private company and he cannot purchase stock options to have a minority ownership.

But the agency is in a rough spot. Do they allow McGregor to have partial ownership of the UFC and cater to his demands, or do they risk running off the golden goose that’s brought a lot of money to the company’s coffers — especially now that he holds championships in two weight divisions.

Although it seems outrageous, it makes sense. McGregor knows his value and isn’t afraid to play hardball with the UFC, something more fighters should be doing when they enter contract negotiations.

While athletes like McGregor and former women’s champion Ronda Rousey have established themselves as stars in the UFC, which has garnered them many opportunities outside mixed martial arts. There are several fighters who feel they are underpaid for their work in the cage, yet they don’t go out of their way to build their own brand beyond the sport.

There are outside parties trying to unionize UFC fighters, but those efforts are barely getting off the ground.

UFC fans and fighters have been advocating for equal pay for athletes and having a fellow competitor like McGregor who owns a small portion of the company could help those efforts.

Or would it? Would McGregor be willing to sacrifice some of his money, even if it meant helping his fellow competitors achieve equal pay?

McGregor is merciless when it comes to taunting his opponents and it wouldn’t surprise me if his desire to own a stake in the UFC was to only benefit him and his family.

Mixed martial arts is a cutthroat sport and you have to take care of yourself.

Al Stover can be reached at [email protected].