How did C. McGregor cross the UFC and become bigger than the sport?

“For some reason, I thought it was heavy. Maybe because of how everyone was talking about it. “UFC President Dana White spoke in her memoir about her relationship with Conor McGregor.” I asked Joe Silva (former UFC fight planner) and Seano Shelby (current fight planner). UFC fights): What the hell is Conor McGregor? That’s all I hear right now. “

At the time, McGregor had a five-year professional career, with 12 wins and 2 losses, and almost all of his experience was accumulated on the Irish MMA scene. His most impressive achievement was his two titles in different weight divisions at Cage Warriors in England.

But even with all that going on, McGregor wasn’t on the UFC president’s radar. D. White was very impressed by the interest shown by the locals in C. McGregor.

That’s how it all started. So no one knew yet where this would lead and what great star C. McGregor would become. At the time, as White and later UFC co-owner Lorenzo Fertita said, the hope was simply that McGregor would be able to fight. They knew that in their country he had many followers, that he was a charismatic and a good interlocutor.

What they couldn’t have predicted is that he would soon become the organization’s biggest star and then go dark for both this company and the sport. They also did not seem prepared for the complications that would accompany them together.

C. McGregor’s initial rise up the UFC rankings was quick, but it wasn’t one we hadn’t seen. It made its Stockholm debut in 2013 in April, just a few months after White’s visit to Dublin. Fans caught the early livestream on Facebook and watched the preliminary battles and saw McCregor knock out UFC lightweight fighter Marcus Brimage in just 67 seconds.

This performance guaranteed C. McGregor 60 thousand. A $ bonus for a “night knockout” that he sold at a clothing store (he already had a fancy taste then). That summer, he returned to the cage and appeared in the first UFC event on Fox Sport 1 television, defeating future UFC lightweight champion Max Holloway by decision of the judges, although he suffered a knee injury in that fight.

The first big event came when, almost a year later, the UFC brought its tournament to Dublin for the first time in five years. It was just the UFC’s second attempt at hosting a tournament in the city, with C. McGregor as its main face.

For that to happen, the UFC had to change its broadcast strategy. 2013 The organization has announced its UFC Fight Pass platform, which would not only allow tournaments to be streamed live from anywhere in the world at any time regardless of local streaming partners’ schedules, but would also give fans access to old fights.

It was an afternoon in the US when McGregor knocked out former Ultimate Fighter winner Diego Brandao, but it was the best time for a local audience in Dublin to buy tickets to the tournament very quickly. This enthusiasm has helped UFC leaders ensure they are moving in the right direction with C. McGregor. Using their own platform, they were also able to do a qualitative analysis of where in the world people were buying streams to watch C. McGregor. As UFC leaders later said, it was clear that C. McGregor is popular around the world.

It wasn’t long before other UFC fighters pointed out that McGregor, who only had three fights in the UFC, fought opponents who didn’t take advantage of his lack of grappling skills, but was still a star. Criticism from other fighters was further escalated when the UFC announced that in January 2015. He will appear in the Fox Sports 1 main fight and if he defeats Dennis Siver, he will have a title fight.

McGregor’s victory in that fight is often overlooked, but in reality, during that fight week in Boston, he was already treated like a star. Fans waited near the hotel almost every day to get their autographs. The media outside the MMA bubble began to gain attention and his personality shone through the interviews. His self-confidence and courage made people wonder if he could do what they were talking about. When McGregor beat Siver in the second round, everyone got a clearer than clear answer.

When the UFC realized that C. McGregor was an extraordinary star even without a championship belt, they took new steps to take advantage of it. After the 2015 announcement of his lightweight championship title fight with José Aldo in the summer, the UFC decided to go on a world tour to promote the fight. Every time C. McGregor stood in front of the microphone, the fans went wild. In the UFC, it was a large-scale ad campaign that the company had never done before. Overall, no one had gathered so many crowds to hear the fighters simply speak.

All that energy was depleted when Alldo injured his ribs and fell from the fight, and the UFC put former title contender Chad Mendes in his place. They were given a “provisional title” and the UFC still treated it as a very important event. Another unusual event was staged, with both fighters being escorted to the cage for live musical performances. As McGgregor walked, The Foggy Dew was sung by Irish Sinead O’Connor, while country singer Aaron Lewis performed Country Boy.

The anti-advertising money paid off. Even after the downfall of J. Aldas and his replacement by Ch.Mendes, the UFC 189 tournament won more than 800,000. Pay-per-view sales, and another $ 7.2 million came from tickets alone. AMERICAN DOLLAR. Although McCregor was the “occupier” in the first round at the time, it was all bought back in the second round, when the bleeding McGregor knocked out the tired Chendes with punches.

When in 2015 at the end of the 19th century, McGregor had the opportunity to join the titles with J. Ald, and the Irishman added another impressive knockout to his legend. The UFC star shined even brighter when he knocked out one of the UFC’s most dominant champions in just 13 seconds with a single shot, and the UFC sold more than $ 1 million. Pay-per-view broadcasts.

However, as C. McGregor’s star grew, so did his power to negotiate with the UFC. When it was set out to rise higher and fight for the lightweight champion title, the organization fairly easily confirmed the unprecedented case. After the 2016 UFC 196 non-title battle, McGregor suddenly lost to Nate Diaz, had a chance to retaliate a few months later, and the lightweight title defense was forgotten.

The UFC’s belief in C. McGregor has never stopped paying off. His revenge in 2016. In the summer, Diaz broke all previous pay-per-view records, and McGregor could continue to demand that everyone dance to his beat, claiming a second UFC title, even though he never defended the first.

There have been cases where McGregor seemed to have a better understanding of anti-advertising than his employers. After November 2016, he defeated Eddie Alvarez and ultimately won the lightweight title, demanding that he be presented with both champion belts in that post-fight chaos, even though the UFC wanted to keep the lightweight belt to a side. C. McGregor realized that even if the lightweight champion belt, which he never defended, was taken away from him, it was very important to capture the photos with them and give everyone the illusion that he was a champion in two different weight classes.

C. McGregor’s ability to do something even better was revealed in 2017 when he began fighting legendary boxer Floyd Mayweather. It was a fight that seemed completely unreal for at least a few reasons. Didn’t C. McGregor have an exclusive contract with the UFC? Yes. Didn’t you ask to fight a man who had won 49 victories, suffered no losses, and who reigned in a sport in which C. McGregor had never competed as a professional? Definitely so.

Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor Photo by Scanpix

If C. McGregor learned anything through the rapid growth of his star, it was a lever of money and how they destroy all obstacles. From the UFC’s resistance to any speech about this fight, to the question of how they could feed off this source of money. Sports commissions, which generally prohibit fights with such a large difference in the boxing experience, also wanted to get a share of the revenue. Using imagination and will, C. McGregor was involved in the Mayweather fight, where he was not competitive but still made millions everywhere.

The UFC was able to enjoy the money simply for allowing McGregor to fight Mayweather, and it was reported to be the biggest payout of the year. However, it also had its price: the bigger McGregor got, the harder it was to control. When there are thousands on a fighter’s account, it is not easy to tell him what to do, what rights he has and against whom and when to fight him. And when you have tens of millions? Then they don’t even have to give an answer if they don’t like your offer.

You can do whatever you want, maybe even throw a barrier on the bus that transports other fighters, like C. McGregor did in 2018. He knew the employer wouldn’t punish him because he couldn’t afford it.

Perhaps because of this, the UFC did not try to repeat such a campaign that was carried out with C. McGregor. The time, energy and money invested in creating the C. McGregor superstar paid off in abundance, but it also meant that a single figure could decide at any time to collect his millions and return home.

Instead of trying to recreate that lightning bolt in a bottle, the UFC decided to take a different path. Why keep waiting and working for one fighter, attracting millions, if it is easier and more reliable to work with dozens of fighters who have much lower salaries but are more dependent on the developer and much easier to manage?

That’s not to say the UFC doesn’t like having C. McGregor in it. The upcoming fight with Dustin Poirier, like his fight with Donald Cerrone last year, allowed the UFC to increase the pay-per-view price by $ 5. This is not a coincidence, as only one fighter can reliably represent such a move. Despite all the headaches it brings, every C. McGregor performance is money in the bank.

You never know when the last time will be, or what troubles outside the cage C. McGregor will have, or what ambitious plans he will ever come up with.

This text was prepared by The Athletic journalist Ben Fowlkes, and Sportas.lt adapted it for its readers.