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From what I can tell, he was given a huge initial push from the UFC because he had the potential to be a huge draw from a country they hadn't quite sealed the market on yet: Ireland. So they threw themselves behind him and gave him as much attention as possible so that they could get that business from the Irish fans. That worked, and as expected, that snowballed onwards. Because he got so much attention from Irish fans, that spread elsewhere (UK especially). I live in Scotland, and before Conor McGregor, I never heard anyone other than guys I trained with ever talk about anything or anyone MMA related. And I started hearing people talk about Conor around the time of the Mendes fight.
I think his popularity largely came from the fact that Ireland didn't have any big stars, and the UK doesn't have many either, and since the UK is right next to Ireland and has certain connections, they latch onto that too. And when you have so many people from a country supporting you, it's only natural that that popularity will spread as others hear you talking about that person or see the person on TV (which comes from the opportunities that were made from having such a vocal fanbase in the first place).
Conor is great at trash talk, but he is by no means the best. Conor is great at fighting, but he is by no means the best. If Conor was born in America, I don't think he'd be the star he is today. I think his stardom all stems from the fact that he was born in Ireland, and Ireland didn't have any big MMA stars yet.
I think his popularity largely came from the fact that Ireland didn't have any big stars, and the UK doesn't have many either, and since the UK is right next to Ireland and has certain connections, they latch onto that too. And when you have so many people from a country supporting you, it's only natural that that popularity will spread as others hear you talking about that person or see the person on TV (which comes from the opportunities that were made from having such a vocal fanbase in the first place).
Conor is great at trash talk, but he is by no means the best. Conor is great at fighting, but he is by no means the best. If Conor was born in America, I don't think he'd be the star he is today. I think his stardom all stems from the fact that he was born in Ireland, and Ireland didn't have any big MMA stars yet.