Can the UFC create another Conor McGregor?

[Seahawks Fan]

At this point i think we all pretty much agree that Conor will never again reach the peak he hit right before he left to box Mayweather.

So question is can the UFC create another Conor McGregor, a fighter who bedazzles both hardcore and casual fans while transcending the sport and becoming a cultural icon?

 

[svmr_db]

 

[surgeyou1]

Create? No. Has to be a special fighter with talent and charisma. No one on the roster right now has both at a high enough level.

 

[AmericanMMA]

Paddy the Baddy is already here, Lad.

 

[samuelsoncast]

Conor was already becoming Conor before his self-fulfilling prophecy. He clearly wouldn't have hit the same $ in another organisation but could well have still made a mighty impact.

His wild mindset has set the bar so high that anything remotely similar would be a cheap emulation.

Conor's skillset was outstanding, but his mentality wasn't quite there and Nate was the first to expose that.

I don't think that another Conor is necessary, but rather somebody completely fresh and in their own style.

 

[Bobby Boulders]

They didn't create Conor, they just gave Conor a platform to do his thing. Dana famously said that the first time he met Conor and spoke with him, he said, "If this kid can fight, he's gonna be a huge star." Conor already had star quality, he just needed the right platform.

 

[RockyLockridge]

UFC didn't create conor, he did it himself. It was his personality and his Boystrous-ness that made him who he is today. The UFC only gave him a platform, the very same platform every other fighter is given.

 

[AmonTobin]

Conor’s parents created him. UFC hit the jackpot with him.

 

[Wilmer Digreux]

Create? No. Has to be a special fighter with talent and charisma. No one on the roster right now has both at a high enough level.

True. But the ufc could do a lot to build up the public's impression of a lot of their guys, they just don't anymore.

I mean look at Chuck. Or Fedor. They were marketed properly. Their promoters worked with their natural tendencies (both guys were quiet and soft spoken, no big personality to speak of) and built them up to the public that way. And they weren't as big as conor but they were still very famous...without having loud personalities. That's due to the promoters giving them the right marketing and the right fights. But now the UFC seems to forget how to do that.

 

[Benoitthegr8]

Maybe the UFC can use pieces of other fighters to create FrankenGregor
{<Mcgoat}

 

[MMA_AZ]

Love him or hate him there will never be an mma fighter to do anything close to what Conor achieved.
From his double champ prediction, avenging his first UFC loss sandwiched between KOing the goat featherweight in 13 seconds and putting on the best striking performance in a championship fight at the inaugural NY event. Crazy fucking run straight to the very top. It was fun to witness.

 

[kingmob6]

Original Conor is coming back. UFC doesn't need a copycat, just needs the OG-C

 

[TempleoftheDog]

Nope..

Conor snapped up the 40 million most pathetic geeks on the planet already.

It will take a while to grow 40 million more.

 

[RockyLockridge]

Love him or hate him there will never be an mma fighter to do anything close to what Conor achieved.
From his double champ prediction, avenging his first UFC loss sandwiched between KOing the goat featherweight in 13 seconds and putting on the best striking performance in a championship fight at the inaugural NY event. Crazy fucking run straight to the very top. It was fun to witness.
View attachment 1009644

it all happened so quickly. I think that's the real take away. People lose interest when there are lulls in the action. For example i think Khamzat not fighting for a whole year kills his momentum. Mcgregor kept his momentum in tact that entire run, then took the floyd fight and you know the rest

 

[blaseblase]

Imagine if the UFC had come to terms with Ngannou and allowed him to box under the Zuffa brand instead of releasing him and slandering him in public. Dana would be hyping him to the moon right now and planning the next couple massive PPVs.

The problem with the UFC is that the brand is more important than the fighters. They don't invest in fighters unless it's a sure thing. Conor came in talking trash and acting cocky and had immediate hype. So they were willing to throw the marketing behind him.

A guy like Ngannou had an insane story, had the looks, and was the harder hitter they'd ever had. He had all the potential to be a superstar. But because he wasn't talking trash it wasn't an immediate thing that happened and they didn't invest in him.

Look at how they didn't bother to promote Nate Diaz and had Dana saying he wasn't a needle mover until after he beat Conor. The UFC sucks at creating stars, most of the time they luck into them.

 

[Randy Fandy Fo Fanders]

Impossible. Because honestly, I think it’s going to be pretty tough to get a cup full of Conor’s dad‘s sperm. And his mom’s eggs are probably rotten.

 

[IronGolem007]

Create? No. Has to be a special fighter with talent and charisma. No one on the roster right now has both at a high enough level.

They would also have to, ultimately, disappoint and quit repeatedly the moment they moved up in weight and started making money.

I far prefer fighters like Alex Pereira, Jiří Procházka, Alexandre Pantoja, Brandon Moreno, etc. — who are pleasant individuals, who fight and take on all comers, and who will NEVER quit.

 

[Jibsta69]

They can yes but it’s also up to the fighter how they perform and how they present themselves and be unique and stop making it an obvious copy job.

I don’t think O’Malley will get to that level by being just a dorky awkward version of Conor and I don’t think Paddy the Baddy who is somewhat a unique character is talented enough.

 

[don't ask]

No, Dana most definitely would prefer stars that are big, but not bigger than the UFC (or big enough to leave the UFC's control). Dana would really prefer that he was successful in trying to turn himself into someone with Conor McGregor stature.

 

[jx820]

I don't think the UFC can create one Conor McGregor let alone another. They just provide a platform.