Well, this is escalating quickly.
Less than one month after he knocked out Jose Aldo to take the UFC’s undisputed featherweight crown at UFC 194, Rolling Stone named Irishman Conor McGregor one of its “25 Hottest Sex Symbols of 2015” (h/t Victor Rodriguez of Bloody Elbow). From the Rolling Stone entry on McGregor:
Depending on whom you ask, the 27-year-old McGregor is either an overhyped loudmouth or the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world – though if you ask him, chances are, he’ll say the latter. Very loudly. Regardless, after his record-setting 13 second KO of Jose Aldo at UFC 194, there’s no denying that the brash, brawling Irishman is currently the biggest star in mixed martial arts (sorry, Ronda); and now, he’s got Aldo’s Featherweight Championship, too.
It’s an open question whether McGregor is, as the magazine suggests, a bigger mainstream star than Ronda Rousey. Despite losing her UFC women’s bantamweight title by head-kick knockout to Holly Holm in November, Rousey remains a high-profile figure in the sport. That was recently evidenced by Tuesday’s announcement that she will host Saturday Night Live later in January, per Brett Okamoto of ESPN.com.
Either way, you can probably count on one hand the number of MMA fighters who have achieved anything close to the fame and notoriety that McGregor (19-2) has. The brash Dublin native has gained as much attention (good and bad) for his pot-stirring outside the cage as he has for his brutal left-hand shot inside it.
His 13-second knockout of Aldo on December 12 was the culmination of a two-and-a-half-year, 7-0 run to the top of the UFC, and it cemented McGregor as someone capable of backing up the trash talk he regularly dumps into the MMA mediasphere.
McGregor also received 2015 Fighter of the Year accolades from a variety of media outlets, including Bleacher Report MMA.
Later this year, it is widely expected that McGregor will move up to the UFC’s lightweight division. Though nothing has yet been announced, it is even possible he could receive an immediate shot at champion Rafael dos Anjos, who has called for such a bout.
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