Conor McGregor, the loquacious 26-year-old Irishman with a silver tongue, golden fists and cash-green dreams, had less than two minutes to style on poor Dustin Poirier at UFC 178.
Then it was all over, a left hand just missing Poirier‘s head but the attached elbow doing no such thing, leaving the No. 5 featherweight in the world dazed, confused and dumbfounded.
It was a brutal finish to a brutal build—one punctuated by taunts, shoves and enough ugly looks to make one wonder if McGregor is a lost Diaz brother.
So dismissive on the road to the cage, McGregor was suddenly magnanimous. All of seven months his senior, McGregor called Poirier a “good kid” and dismissed any talk of hatred—at least on his end.
“I cannot hate the man who has the same dreams as me. I have no emotion toward them at the end of the day. I am on my journey,” McGregor said at the post-fight press conference on UFC Fight Pass. “I have nothing but respect for these competitors. Make no mistake: I am cocky in prediction, I am confident in preparation, but I am always humble in victory or defeat.”
The fighting, built to in a whirlwind month of trash talk and mean mugging, was done early. The styling and profiling? It was just beginning.
They say you should dress for the job you want, not the job you have. If that’s true, McGregor is auditioning for the role of multimillionaire—and he may be on his way.
Resplendent in a gorgeous custom-tailored ivory suit by David August, McGregor held court at the post- fight press conference. If there was any doubt as to whom the night belonged to before the bouts began, there was none after. The UFC is now McGregor‘s world. Everyone else is just a bit player.
“This is all fun and games for me. I love it. I love my job,” he told the press. “I whoop people for truckloads of cash. How could I hate this life? I love it so much.”
Before the bout, there was significant doubt about whether McGregor could live up to the not-insignificant hype. The combat sports world is littered with the broken dreams of fighters who were beloved by promoters and television executives but couldn’t deliver when flying words turned to flying fists.
But McGregor appears transformed every time he steps into the cage.
In a world where most are in a steady process of decay—their bodies, spirit and will power constantly on that perilous path toward empty—McGregor is an exception. He’s growing better, stronger and smarter every time out.
“That’s what it’s about. This game is about growth,” he pontificated. “I find a lot of mixed martial artists, a lot of athletes period, get to this stage where they are happy with their ability. And then it’s about maintenance. It’s about showing up at the gym. It’s about getting hard round in. It’s about getting miles on the road in. But, really, their skill level is not growing.”
With skills and hype both growing at an astronomical rate, discussion of the past gives way to dreams of the future. What’s next for McGregor? In his mind, it’s a title shot against longtime champion Jose Aldo.
“Don’t try and tell me that gold belt sitting up there on this table would not look great to go alongside this ivory elephant trunk suit that I’ve got on me right now,” McGregor said, his voice rising an octave. “I know Dana [White] wants to see it. I know Lorenzo [Fertitta] wants to see it. Shout out to Uncle Frank [Fertitta], I know he wants to see it. It’s what the fans want. It’s what I want.”
Bleacher Report’s Jeremy Botter agrees that the time for McGregor is now:
Imagine, if you will, that McGregor gets his wish and fights for the championship belt in a soccer stadium in Ireland? The place will be packed. Ireland, already MMA-crazed, will become even more so. They’ll pack Dublin and create a monstrous source of revenue for the UFC, and it is a source of revenue that could expand and help them cement their presence in other European markets.
It’s a compelling case. Certainly, McGregor is becoming a folk hero in Ireland and could no doubt bring a rabid fanbase to any arena or stadium in the country.
But at the end of the day, as McGregor likes to say, Ireland isn’t where the real money is. It’s a country with a population of fewer than 5 million people.
There’s a reason even the biggest British boxing stars, men like Ricky Hatton and Lennox Lewis, contested all of their major bouts in America—it’s where you get rich. The same will be true of McGregor. Packing a stadium in Ireland is nice. Selling 1 million pay-per-views is better.
As exciting as he’s been, both in the cage and out, McGregor has been playing mostly to the hardcores.
His standout performance against Diego Brandao in July was on UFC’s Fight Pass, an online streaming service by definition geared only for the most devoted fans. His win over Poirier was on a card headlined by Demetrious Johnson, the UFC’s least popular champion. It was likely viewed by an average, at best, audience.
The UFC will get one chance to pit its top featherweight against its rising star. It’s important to do it right. If it runs that fight next, it will be a big deal to obsessive UFC fans and a disappointment on pay-per-view.
Instead, the promotion should give McGregor one more bout, against a veteran with a name but little more, and put it on the Fox Network in front of millions of fans.
Then, when McGregor finally walks into a soccer stadium in his native land, more than just Irish diehards will be primed to see him take on Aldo. Then, the world will be watching.
He deserves nothing less.
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