In exactly one week, UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor will meet all-time boxing legend Floyd Mayweather Jr. in what will most likely be the most lucrative combat sporting event ever when they throw down in a boxing match next Saturday (August 26, 2017) from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The hype has reached a fever pitch, one that’s completely overshadowed anything actually involving real MMA competition, of which the UFC has not staged an event for what will be three consecutive weeks when it’s all said and done, an unheard-of proposition in the current time where nearly every weekend has some sort of UFC event or another. It’s probably a good plan, however, as any UFC card would simply be drowned out by the spectacle of Mayweather vs. McGregor anyway.
And let’s be honest – it is a spectacle above all else. McGregor, despite being one of the most powerful knockout artists in UFC history, has never fought a professional boxing match, yet in one week’s time, he’ll take on a combatant with an unblemished 49-0 record whom many feel is arguably the greatest boxer of all-time. That’s a gross discrepancy that’s difficult to overcome, so while McGregor and, as a result, the UFC and MMA as a whole, will undoubtedly earn a ton of attention and money because of next week’s spectacle, it’s also fair to wonder if the mismatched (at least on paper) bout is actually good for the sport of MMA in the long run.
I’m not saying it’s not with any degree of uncertainty – it very well may be, especially in terms of the financial success that new UFC owners WME-IMG seem to covet above all else – and need to pay back the loans they helped to cover the promotion’s record-breaking $4.2 billion price tag. But another view of the situation created by this once-in-a-lifetime bout paints a scene that is an overall reflection of one of the main criticisms WME-IMG has undergone since buying the company – that they focus on promoting only one or two big stars.
McGregor is obviously their biggest star and draw, and based on the absolutely dismal numbers they had during the early months of 2017 when he was absent, they clearly need him more than he needs them. True, they had to effectively shut down their own events to take advantage of this golden opportunity, but how many more bouts does McGregor really have left in the octagon after what is rumored to be a $100-million plus payday versus Mayweather, even if he insists he wants to fight in MMA before the end of the year?
It’s going to be tough to go back to making even $10 million a fight in the UFC after that kind of money, and if and when McGregor steps aside from the fight game like he’s always hinted at, the UFC is going to be in yet another situation where they have no huge draw and haven’t built up any new stars to come even close to the stratosphere of replacing McGregor. Jon Jones is back, but he doesn’t quite qualify on that level overall, and he’s only made it to one fight after two years of concerning issues kept him from fighting.
That’s not even taking into account the possibility that McGregor gets completely embarrassed by the best defensive boxer of the modern era, a result that would paint a bad look for MMA. If he survives the full 12 rounds, it would be a huge boon to MMA. Again, that could certainly happen.
But overall, McGregor just wouldn’t appear to have three UFC fights in him a year for the next three years after facing Mayweather, which is why the UFC may have just mortgaged their future, or at least a big piece of it, to cash in on one massive yet short-sighted payday in the immediate future.
The economic gain is defintiely going to be huge for all involved next weekend. Whether or not that’s actually good for MMA is yet to be seen.
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