Good chance Conor won’t fight in the UFC again

[Naterade]

Everything Dana has been trying to do for the past 10 years is take relevance off the fighters and a very long term plan. Now with the ESPN deal it’s done exactly that. Conor was exactly what they needed at the time leading into the sale and now it’s just a totally different business model all together.

PPV numbers don’t matter anymore because espn has decided to eat a huge loss from the UFC deal short term to help them transition into digital. There will never be any other huge non title fights. They want to make the belts seem meaningful as much as possible to further legitimize the sport aspect LONG TERM. Huge non title fights are more of a show.

This leaves Conor in a spot where he’s never going to make the money he used to off PPV splits and he’s sure as hell never going to co-main. Financially it will make zero sense for him to fight and they won’t budge on the no non-title main event. Same goes for Brock and others...those days are over. With espn the UFC will not be reliant on single fighters to push big PPVs and that’s exactly what they wanted.

 

[Klaavical]

So you're saying UFC is dead?

 

[2EZ]

Totally has nothing to do with conor being scared shitless of fighting an actual contender because he lost all his confidence.

 

[LockardTheGOAT]

People said that two years ago after he fought Floyd and look how wrong they were.

Conor will fight again and the new ESPN deal does nothing to change that. I think he'll probably fight twice by the end of this year.

 

[RonniePickering]

ok

 

[Naterade]

So you're saying UFC is dead?

No lol they’re exactly where they wanted to be, it’s just a different thing now. In a way the value of individual fighters is lower than ever. They’re transitioning into becoming more like the nfl/nba as an organization but the fighters will never be making that kind of money

 

[The Merchant]

If ESPN paid all that money to promote ESPN+ they will push for Conor to fight i'm sure.

 

[linvillegorge]

PPVs don't matter until A) the opportunity arises to far exceed 500k buys and/or B) it's time to renegotiate the media deal.

I agree that the urgency to drove PPV numbers has dropped, but the numbers Conor will bring means that the UFC would very much like for him to fight again.

 

[Aforo88]

Everything Dana has been trying to do for the past 10 years is take relevance off the fighters and a very long term plan. Now with the ESPN deal it’s done exactly that. Conor was exactly what they needed at the time leading into the sale and now it’s just a totally different business model all together.

PPV numbers don’t matter anymore because espn has decided to eat a huge loss from the UFC deal short term to help them transition into digital. There will never be any other huge non title fights. They want to make the belts seem meaningful as much as possible to further legitimize the sport aspect LONG TERM. Huge non title fights are more of a show.

This leaves Conor in a spot where he’s never going to make the money he used to off PPV splits and he’s sure as hell never going to co-main. Financially it will make zero sense for him to fight and they won’t budge on the no non-title main event. Same goes for Brock and others...those days are over. With espn the UFC will not be reliant on single fighters to push big PPVs and that’s exactly what they wanted.

Zero sense to fight? Dude needs fighting to stay sane... he will spiral into a black hole of proper12, blow, hookers and gambling if he dosnt fight. It makes all the sense in the world for Conor to take a fight no matter what the pay cut is. Conor is the drug addict, and UFC is the drug dealer who got the best stuff in town.

 

[RicksonsGrip]

Conor is DONE, if he fights again, itll be one last time and he will lose... (unless of course he fights nate diaz or someone outside the top 3, in which case he might win)

 

[phatron]

In a way the value of individual fighters is lower than ever.

yet fighters are making more than ever

 

[Tuf_guy]

Wanderlei and Mayhem facepalm.gif

Edit, here it goes
Say "Conner might not fight again" again.

Good chance Conor won’t fight in the UFC again

Me:

 

[JackWhite]

I'd be kinda shocked if he didn't fight at least once more.

I'd be even more shocked though if he were to fight for a title again.

 

[Filter909]

He's praying Cowboy beats Tony, then Khabib, then gets another automatic title shot as he has "history" with Cowboy, and the UFC will sell it but I will not be buying it. If those plans don't work out, he'll pray for something else. Just like he was praying Holloway to beat Poirier so he could give Holloway a rematch aka Holloway give Conor a title shot. Fuck uninjured inactive criminal whiners.

 

[boss429]

Zero sense to fight? Dude needs fighting to stay sane... he will spiral into a black hole of proper12, blow, hookers and gambling if he dosnt fight. It makes all the sense in the world for Conor to take a fight no matter what the pay cut is.

Not to mention he needs to fight to remain relevant to sell his whiskey and shit since basically all he is is a figure head and salesmen. He didn't create the Whiskey, he doesn't brew the Whiskey, he was just someone who's popularity could be used to sell a product to stupid people who will buy it because its "Conor's Whiskey", lol.

For this to continue working though he needs to be the flamboyant loud mouth people see acting like a jackass insulting people in the press before fighting them.

Being that loudmouth on twitter calling people out and never backing it up will lose its appeal quickly but unfortunately (for him) the novelty will also wear off before too long if he isn't winning as well.

I think it's safe to say he's jumped the shark at this point and can only hope to maintain and hold on to that popularity for as long as he can before the next flash in the pan over shadows him and he's forgotten all together.

 

[Naterade]

People said that two years ago after he fought Floyd and look how wrong they were.

Conor will fight again and the new ESPN deal does nothing to change that. I think he'll probably fight twice by the end of this year.

I never thought he wouldn’t fight after Floyd because he’s a real fighter and actually loves it.

He probably made 20-30m off the khabib fight. Now the PPV split is different, if he's not getting something close to his worth he won't fight.

Also how will he even get back to a title fight? I'd wager they're sticking to the no non-title main events going forward but well see

 

[Beans & Cornbread]

Hope you're right and they try to bring some legitimacy back to the sport.

 

[TheLinguist]

ok

Don’t be so sensitive he might come back once his “broken” foot heals

 

[LockardTheGOAT]

I never thought he wouldn’t fight after Floyd because he’s a real fighter and actually loves it.

He probably made 20-30m off the khabib fight. Now the PPV split is different, if he's not getting something close to his worth he won't fight.

Also how will he even get back to a title fight? I'd wager they're sticking to the no non-title main events going forward but well see

Well if he doesn't fight then he won't be making anything. Even less money than you feel you 'deserve' is better than no money at all.

I think it'll probably end up like his return last year where he doesn't get the amount he wants but he still gets more than he's already getting, and that combined with his love for fighting compels him to return to the octagon.

 

[PicoPulse]

Did I hear more belts? Can we have 165 now?