He got in, he got rich, and he got out.

Solid piece by Chuck Mindenhall at The Athletic on Conor McGregor (paywall):

Even if McGregor is 100 percent sincere in his desire to change his ways — actually, especially if — we’re talking about a far different McGregor than the one who was bursting at the seams to make his name in fighting. At best, the man who spent years living up to his nickname, “Notorious,” will now be tasked with trying to live it down. That’s not exactly the same setup as before, when McGregor’s name was an enterprise. The context, at once so admirable and easy to root for, is now complicated. To associate with him isn’t the happy little rebellion it once was, and any vicariousness to the winner’s vibe these days feels something like enabling.

In other words, the spirit of Conor McGregor can’t be retrieved, because at first it was all going somewhere. Now it’s retreating from where it’s been. His downfall has become a burgeoning part of the story, and — sadly — that side has as much momentum as what’s left out there for him to accomplish.

The longer he’s out of the game, the more it seems like he won’t return. And why would he? He’s won UFC championship belts in two weight classes, boxed Floyd Mayweather for tens and millions of dollars, and launched his own whiskey. He figured it out. He won. It his own words that he tweeted five years ago, he got in, he got rich, and he got out.

Categories:

Sports

McGregor

Conor McGregor willing to serve as co-main event for the UFC, on one condition:

While he didn’t quite get what he was asking for, McGregor did ultimately get a new, six-fight deal with the UFC that included an official sponsorship deal for McGregor’s Proper 12 whiskey, including putting it on the UFC canvas. But after serving as the A side for by far the biggest PPV in UFC history, McGregor is back to chasing the equity he feels he deserves, and at this point, it’s getting harder to deny him. McGregor is responsible for five of the six highest-selling UFC PPVs ever. If any fighter deserves equity in the company, it’s him, but the UFC has been adamantly against setting that kind of precedent.

The UFC should give him a cut, he’s worth it. Every contender in the UFC is a fighter, but not every fighter is a fight promoter. McGregor is a promotion machine. He’s one of those rare individuals who understands there’s way more to fighting events than just fighting. As the article mentions, he was in 5 of 6 highest-selling pay-per-views ever in the UFC.

That’s not an accident.

Categories:

Sports

Venom McGregor

Tom Hardy based Venom character on Conor McGregor:

Tom Hardy has discussed his decision to base a Venom character on Conor McGregor, telling RTÉ Entertainment it was largely because the Irish MMA fighter “wants to have a scrap with everybody”.

Hardy makes it clear the character traits he’s based off of McGregor he’s internalized along with an amalgam of other characters.

Don’t expect to watch the movie and see him mimicking Conor.

Categories:

Film

Conor vs. Khabib

Shaun Al-Shatti reporting for MMAFighting.com:

And according to White, as long as McGregor is able to clear up his legal trouble, a Nurmagomedov vs. McGregor pairing could very well be in the cards for 2018.

“I’m pretty confident that that is the fight that Conor wants, and I’m pretty confident that that is the fight that Khabib wants,” White said. “So, yeah, I could see that happening.”

It’s on.

Categories:

Sports

False Equivalence

Eddie Alvarez thinks Nate Diaz’s ‘ego’ won’t let him say he only wants Conor McGregor fight: ‘Just be honest’:

“The more I think about it, the more I’m like: When Conor takes a break, Nate takes a break,” Alvarez continued. “Conor’s like, ‘I ain’t fighting until August,’ and Nate’s like, ‘Well, I ain’t fighting until July,’ or some sh*t. I guess his ego doesn’t let him say, ‘I just want to fight Conor.’ Just say it. Like, just be honest with everyone. If that’s who you want to fight, there’s nothing wrong with that. But don’t call everyone out if you don’t have any intention of fighting anybody.

I think Alvarez is 100% correct.

I’ve said it before: Diaz has created in his mind a false equivalence between himself and Conor McGregor. He thinks because Conor makes the big money, and he’s fought Conor before, then he should also be able to ask for just as much money. That’s not how it works.

And stop mumbling for shit’s sake.

Categories:

Sports

“laughed at by the fight gods”

Bellator’s unpredictable night shows difficulty of building stars:

Best laid plans in MMA are often thrown by the wayside and laughed at by the fight gods. For Coker and company, Bellator 185 was one of those nights. By the end of it Mousasi was in the hospital, Hardy’s face was destroyed, and Julaton had been upset.

Back to the drawing board.

It’s not just Bellator. It’s tough for any mixed martial arts organization. New champs can be crowned in any fight. Superstars like Conor McGregor are very rare and even their victories are far from guaranteed.

Just look at what happened to Ronda Rousey. It seemed she was the UFC’s next rising superstar, but then her fight with Amanda Nunes happened now her fighting career doesn’t look so bright. Back in January Joe Rogan said he didn’t think she’d fight again and as more time passes it’s looking more and more likely.

People love rooting for their fighter, but it’s hard to do that in such a volatile sport.

Too Much CBD Oil for Nate Diaz

Coach: Nate Diaz ‘needs to get paid at least $20 million’ for Conor McGregor trilogy:

Conor McGregor’s huge paycheck for his boxing match with Floyd Mayweather could mean more money for his future UFC opponents — at least that’s what Nate Diaz’s boxing coach Richard Perez is hoping for.

Diaz’s last two fights under the UFC banner were against “The Notorious” in 2016, and he made $2.6 million dollars in disclosed pay in those bouts combined. After seeing what McGregor made against Mayweather, and the potential money that could be made in a trilogy bout with McGregor in the UFC, Perez expects 10 times more.

“At least $20 million, $30 million,” Perez told Submission Radio. “Come on. UFC’s making a whole lot of money, a whole lot of money and they’re pocketing it. They’re giving more to McGregor, so it’s not fair because it takes two in that ring to draw a crowd – I mean, a good two fighters. It’s just like Mayweather when he fought Berto. It was not even sold out at all. It was embarrassing. It’s because that guy couldn’t draw a crowd. See, that’s what I’m saying, it’s the fighters that draw the crowd, and Nathan and McGregor, third one would be outstanding. Everyone knows that. So he needs to get paid at least $30 million easy.”

Nate Diaz is out of his fucking mind if he thinks he can get $20 million to fight McGregor in the UFC.

Conor pocketed a base of $30 million (over $100 million after the final numbers were tallied) for his boxing match this past Saturday with Floyd Mayweather.

McGregor and Mayweather are both businessmen and promotion machines who work to generate the inevitable buzz that builds up around their fights. They did a 4-city world promotional tour before their fight. Nate Diaz can barely form sentences.

Can Diaz fight? One hundred percent. Diaz is an incredible fighter, but when you’re asking for $20 million, you have to bring more to the table than your fighting skills and the ability to throw water bottles at your opponent.

Categories:

Business, Sports

Conor

Mike Chiappetta writing for MMAFighting.com:

Things returned to a normal order last night in Las Vegas. McGregor’s prediction — a knockout in less than four rounds — ticked away, unfulfilled. He didn’t finish Floyd Mayweather; he didn’t even win. The best boxer of the last 20 years got off to a slow start but eventually stopped McGregor in the 10th round when referee Richard Byrd stepped in to save the Irishman from an unanswered barrage.

The stoppage, even if McGregor mildly protested it later, was both fair and final. Yet here’s the thing: McGregor won. Not in the literal sense. In the record books, he’s now an 0-1 professional boxer. But figuratively, McGregor far surpassed the expectations of most, from his performance to his courage.

The “farce” decried by many never materialized. The “freak show” got real competitive, real quick. The MMA fighter turned novice boxer hung in with the now 50-0 superstar.

Much like his UFC loss to Nate Diaz, McGregor handled his loss to Mayweather like a professional.

I wanted McGregor to win, but I knew the chances were slim. Despite his loss, I’m not bummed because I quickly realized Conor isn’t bummed. Just look at the two posing after the fight.

It’s clear he’s unlike most MMA fighters and boxers. You could easily argue he’s more of a businessman than a boxer.

Two years ago McGregor tweeted, “Get in. Get rich. Get out.”

So far, so good.

Categories:

Sports

Floyd’s Submissive Body Language

I’m fascinated by all the events that have thus far led up to the Conor McGregor v. Floyd Mayweather fight happening this weekend. I’ll also say up front I’m a Conor McGregor fan. He has been discounted before most of his fights, only to prove the naysayers wrong and beat his opponents. The obvious exception to this was his first fight with Nate Diaz where he lost to a brutal rear naked choke.

I like Conor because he talks the talk in a big way, but he walks the walk too. But back to talking the talk. A lot of people like to write off the trash-talking and mind games as “just words” and “trivial”, but the truth is Conor is proving himself to be a master at getting inside his apponents’ heads and breaking them before the fight has even started.

The other night when I was binge-watching Conor McGregor videos on Youtube, as I’ve been doing for the last few months, I came across a great series breaking down the behavioral psychology and body language between Conor and Floyd Mayweather during their promotional world tour last month.

The videos are by ‘Alpaca Thesaurus’ and narrated by Courvoisier the Goddamn Newt (wtf, I know).

My favorite video thus far breaks down the Toronto leg of the tour, where Floyd displays submissive posturing at least 5 times on stage in front of Conor.

Does all the submission body language Floyd exhibits mean he’s going to lose the fight on Saturday? Absolutely not, but once you see all the ‘tells’ and unconscious gestures Courvoisier points out you can’t unsee them and they are real.

We tend to forget below all the higher cognitive functions and logic we humans are primal, tribal, and emotional animals.

Alvarez on McGregor

“Conor has about three or four rounds to get this done. . . Within those four rounds, if you don’t think Conor can knock this guy out, you’re an idiot or you just don’t know fighting because it can very well happen. If he doesn’t get it done by then, then it could look very one-sided. The technical boxing of Floyd Mayweather is enough to make it look really one-sided for him. But Conor, there is a very real chance that he can put him away.”

I’ve seen countless videos of people explaining why Conor McGregor has no chance against Floyd Mayweather on August 26th, but I agree with Eddie Alvarez. Sure, the odds are against Conor winning, but there is a clear window of possibility for him to take down Floyd.

People also tend to either downplay or simply not acknowledge the role psychology has in affecting a fighter’s performance. Floyd has never had to deal with someone with as much genuine swagger and bravado as Conor.

When you break a man’s spirit, or get them acting off emotion instead of calculated thought, you’ve got ’em. I think one of the best examples of this was McGregor’s fight against Jose Aldo. Aldo came out swinging and within 13 seconds, Conor had caught him with his iron left exactly as Conor had predicted.

I can’t wait for for August 26th.

Nate Diaz is not worth $20 million.

Nate Diaz says he won’t answer UFC’s calls for less than $20 million:

In the midst of the latest UFC title saga, a familiar, yet unexpected name, resurfaced.

Inaccurate reports stated the promotion was targeting an interim lightweight title fight between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Nate Diaz. However, according to multiple sources, that fight has not been offered yet.

As for Diaz, he told MMAFighting.com Wednesday night, that the UFC hasn’t called him about any upcoming fights. And if they’re planning on doing so, Diaz had a message for the brass:

“I’m only fighting at lightweight for a big fight or 20 million just to take the call,” Diaz told MMAFighting.com via text message. “Until then, I’m just living my life.”

Nate Diaz is out of his mind. He only started flexing like this after his two fights with Lightweight & Featherweight champion Conor McGregor. McGregor can and does command those kinds of numbers. It wasn’t until McGregor started speaking out on the value he brought to the UFC that Diaz also started speaking out.

While I think Diaz is an incredible fighter — he beat McGregor in their first fight — he’s not the showman McGregor is. Fighters like McGregor only come around once in a lifetime.

McGregor is worth $20 million per fight. Nate Diaz is not.

Categories:

Sports