UFC 178 represented a notorious coming out party for Conor McGregor, who Dana White now calls the biggest star in UFC history.
Yes, you read that correctly.
After just four fights, the UFC president has conceded that the Irish featherweight is bigger than Georges St-Pierre and Brock Lesnar.
When speaking with MMA journalist Ariel Helwani on Fox Sports 1’s UFC 178 post-fight show, White uttered the grand proclamation that the hype and excitement behind McGregor was “bigger than any of the fighters” the UFC has ever had, including St-Pierre and Lesnar.
“Conor McGregor is the real deal – he is legit,” White said, according to MMAjunkie. “He is a force that I have never seen ever. Bigger than Brock Lesnar when he was here. Bigger than any of the fighters we’ve ever had. Yes, [he’s bigger than Georges St-Pierre]. I’ve never seen anything like this.”
McGregor proved skeptics wrong on Saturday night by effortlessly dispatching of top-five ranked featherweight contender Dustin Poirier. He even managed to finish the fight in the fashion and round he predicted weeks in advance, a first-round knockout.
The prospect of McGregor being a major star for the UFC is glaringly obvious, considering the reception he received over the weekend in Las Vegas. But it still remains to be seen whether he can move a pay-per-view needle to the effect of top-earning fighters in the past.
However, it’s tough to doubt a man with an entire country behind him.
During the live UFC 178 broadcast, per MMAWeekly, White claimed that “ten percent of ticket sales came from Ireland” just to see McGregor. It’s a kind of star power that is at least comparable to St-Pierre’s influence in Canada, if not greater.
Though the St-Pierre and Lesnar comparisons might seem a bit premature, there is something to be said about the myriad of intrigue surrounding the 26-year-old McGregor so early in his UFC career.
It has been a tough year for the UFC with St-Pierre going on indefinite hiatus and Anderson Silva being sidelined with an injury.
Perhaps the long and arduous journey of finding the next breakout star led the UFC to a large pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, and his name is Conor McGregor.
Jordy McElroy is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA writer for Rocktagon.
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