Conor Raised the Bar Too High - That's the Problem With UFC Now

[Jorge Luis Borges]

I've been thinking about this as well and could probably have a long discussion about this.

He sold tickets to an interview and garnered enough attention to set up a contest with the highest paid athlete in the world in an entirely different sport.

Think about that...

It's been years since any of us have really stopped to think about McGregor.

Once the world promo tour for the Aldo fight happened in 2015, no one was on the fence about McGregor. Since then, if you're a fan all you do is post a gif of him blasting Aldo (preferably the one with Jose's head enlarged imo). Doesn't even matter what the topic is. And if the gif doesn't work, then move on to talking about how much money he has.

And if you're a hater, all you do is gripe about him never defending a belt. You're right, of course, and he never will. It doesn't matter what the subject is, even less than it matters to his fans. If that doesn't suffice, then post a gif of Nate choking him out, post some nonsense about how Nate won the rematch, undercut Nate as a poor fighter.

McGregor is easily one of the most interesting phenomena in MMA history, whether you love him or hate him, but no MMA fan ever actually thinks about him. He's one of the better MMA strikers we've seen and an amazingly gifted promoter. He finally did what most fans have been rooting for since Pride went under and stuck it to the man. He told the UFC to jump and made them answer "how high". And of course he's hated for it, as the same unreflective fans who hate how the UFC has all the leverage seem to hate it even more when a fighter has some too.

 

[Fatal Catro]

I've been thinking about this as well and could probably have a long discussion about this.

He sold tickets to an interview and garnered enough attention to set up a contest with the highest paid athlete in the world in an entirely different sport.

Think about that...

That says a lot about his fans, as unfortunate as they are and as little as they like the sport outside of Conor there are many of them.

 

[Mr. Hammer]

Then drop them if they don't mean anything.

What difference would that make? You are hating because of the word "interim".

 

[chitoortiz]

What difference would that make? You are hating because of the word "interim".

Nope.

If you don't want to be a champ then why hold onto the belts?

Champs defend belts.

That's what stops Conor from being one of the GOATS.

 

[ColombianFist]

more than having stars to draw, it's better to promote every card like it's the best card wver. by letting guys be so huge than the promotion, it's a risk since the peop`le in charge don't know whne that star will stab them in the back. that's what's happening with irish jabroni: WME let him do that fight with floyd and now he became so big that he doesn't care for mma or the ufc. and now WME has to book stupid money fights to draw casuals just MCG doesn't want to fights.

 

[johncola]

He could do it all.....except defend titles.

So you admit it? He's surely pretty amazing then? Surely your favorite fighter?

 

[Robbie Corleone]

I'm watching MMA since the early 2000s. And I like watching Conor fight. You should consider though that he cuts a lot of weight and is bigger than everyone in the divisions he holds / was holding belts in. When he fought Nate at his natural weight, he got whooped. So don't overrate him.

The talk / drama / hype I couldn't care less about.

You sound like someone who’s just started watching MMA.

 

[LittleSmokey]

They are trying to book Woodley vs Nate Diaz that's the fucking problem.

 

[johncola]

TS is just being a damn casual

Do you even like watching fights TS? Or you in exclusively for the drama?

Well TS specifically mentioned "fight" and "finish fights" alongside the drama, so it's interesting that this was the post you decided to make out of all the posts you coulda made. How did the word "exclusively" end up in there, considering what I just said?

 

[johncola]

fuck off

conors fights werent very good. the second diaz fight was a fucking embarassment, my standard challenge is for anyone to come up with a single time a belt holder looked so poorly prepared as conor did, spent most of the fight drowning like a fish on dry land


conor set the bar too low

you dont like fighting

 

[JayJayFrench]

It's crazy to think the most googled athlete of 2017 was an MMA fighter. I wonder if some of the fighters are going to want his autograph now.

Get your "facts" straight son. Most googled in the U.S, not the world.

 

[cmw43]

I think you mean Mayweather raised the bar for combat sports. Almost everyone hates the guy yet he can generate big ppv numbers because people want to see him lose.

He even got the worlds most famous MMA fighter to come into his sport to beg for a paycheck.

Mayweather needs someone to work off.

His last fight against Berto only did 400k.

It was mutually beneficial for both parties as you can see by the PPV numbers.

 

[Mr. Hammer]

Nope.

If you don't want to be a champ then why hold onto the belts?

Champs defend belts.

That's what stops Conor from being one of the GOATS.

Champs beat the prior champs. Conor did so emphatically.

You should stop thinking about him all the time. You'll feel better.

 

[Local Plata]

Nah, the UFC will find someone else like him eventually and throw a big enough push to get everyone interested again. Stars have been coming and going from the sport forever, Conor was just the most recent and most well-paid.

 

[LongDongSilver]

you dip shit fans let him do this .. now you wanna cry about it

still think it's cool people leapfrog rankings ? Number one contenders who fought their way up get their hard worked flushed down the toilet by a fly by night ?


Conor only wants Russia cause he wants 75% of ppv .. He has no true belief he can actually beat khabib

 

[Kobra420]

He could do it all...

Except defend.......

 

[Sjb1888]

He could do it all...fight, finish fights, sell fights, make people emotionally invested, etc...

Everything feels lacklustre when he's not involved. That's the issue - there are no stars left. I don't care what any UFC hipster says....

Dana should just pay him what he is asking for.

I agree, been saying it for a while, he makes events feel so very big that traditionally big events that used to get huge hype now feel small in comparison...

 

[Thepaintbucket]

Mayweather needs someone to work off.

His last fight against Berto only did 400k.

It was mutually beneficial for both parties as you can see by the PPV numbers.

Of course it's mutually beneficial. But Conor still had to go to boxing to make money and not the other way around. That's a big difference. And if Conor comes back to fight he's back to his UFC contract- A few million guaranteed and the rest based on ppv numbers.

And the Berto fight is a good example. Thank you. That fight did 400k and Mayweather was guaranteed minimum of $32 million.

Conors 3,500,000 million guaranteed vs Mayweathers 32 million? Lol.

If you want to be realistic here for a second; Conor did raise the bar for MMA but only for top PPV producers. Ie. Ronda got paid more for her fight with Nunes. GSP probably got a shit more then he did when was champion.

 

[241]

He would gas out trying to raise the bar

He would take its head clean off

 

[cmw43]

Of course it's mutually beneficial. But Conor still had to go to boxing to make money and not the other way around. That's a big difference. And if Conor comes back to fight he's back to his UFC contract- A few million guaranteed and the rest based on ppv numbers.

And the Berto fight is a good example. Thank you. That fight did 400k and Mayweather was guaranteed minimum of $32 million.

Conors 3,500,000 million guaranteed vs Mayweathers 32 million? Lol.

If you want to be realistic here for a second; Conor did raise the bar for MMA but only for top PPV producers. Ie. Ronda got paid more for her fight with Nunes. GSP probably got a shit more then he did when was champion.

The Berto fight was a financial disaster, they lost millions with an estimated $20m in PPV revenue and $36m to pay in purses.



http://www.espn.co.uk/boxing/story/...re-berto-fight-disappoints-pay-per-view-sales