(Originally appeared on 411mania.com)
Conor McGregor has skyrocketed in the UFC. He started as a prelim fighter before headlining a show on Fight Pass and finally making his PPV debut this past weekend.
In his four UFC bouts, McGregor has shown a blend of skill and charisma that hasn’t been found too often recently in the UFC, and rarely in sub-155 divisions. He’s managed to capture the attention of casual and hardcore fans just by being brash and then backing it up in the cage.
In his second UFC fight, the announce team was talking about him like he was a legend in the sport. Following his fourth UFC fight, a first round knockout victory over Dustin Poirier, Dana White proclaimed that McGregor is a bigger star than Brock Lesnar and Georges St. Pierre.
The UFC is actually doing McGregor a disservice by making such claims.
Brock Lesnar and Georges St. Pierre headlined multiple PPV events that sold out and did over one million buys. McGregor’s one venture onto PPV, where he was third from the top, will be lucky to crack 250,000 buys.
There’s no denying that there’s something special about the kid from Ireland. He’s not afraid of the moment or the spotlight. He embraces it, basks in it, and makes you pay attention to him. The hype is there. He’s created it and he’s kept it going. He doesn’t need any help, especially from the UFC marketing machine that has become clichéd and riddled with hyperbole.
Earlier this year Ronda Rousey was the biggest star in the sport. Now McGregor is a bigger star than Lesnar and GSP. So how come the UFC doesn’t run a PPV with Rousey and McGregor as headliners and shatter all PPV records? Because despite what they say, they know it’s not true. So why say it?
McGregor doesn’t need Dana White, Joe Rogan, or Mike Goldberg to make him shine brighter because no one in their right mind actually believes what those three say when words come out of their mouth. Chuck Liddell got to where he was because he had an unspoken charisma and knocked people out. Georges St. Pierre got to where he was because he was the absolute best in the sport. Their praises were sung, but they weren’t off key.
Tell me that Conor McGregor is a supreme striker with outstanding power. Tell me that he’s brash, he’s arrogant, he doesn’t care what you think about him because he’ll continue to prove you wrong. Better yet, don’t tell me anything about Conner McGregor, let Conor tell me about himself. He’s done a good job of doing that this far.
Besides Jose Aldo, who can’t stay healthy and might not be long for 145 if the weight cut continues to drain him, and Urijah Faber, who may never be a UFC champion; McGregor is the only person in the flyweight, bantamweight, and featherweight division who moves the needle even a little bit.
Instead of turning him into “just another guy” they’ve gone the opposite route and appear to be turning him into “high expectations guys.” The problem is, he’ll never live up to those expectations. He’ll never be Lesnar or GSP because the business isn’t what it used to be and likely never will be again. But that doesn’t have to be a bad thing. McGregor doesn’t have to be those guys. If he can win a title, continue to sell tickets and expand the Irish market, and consistently do PPV numbers over 350,000; that would be pretty damn impressive.
So let Conor McGregor do that. Let him promote himself with his own words and actions. If the UFC actually takes a step back, good things might happen.
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