Did Conor sell most of his ppv's because of people rooting against him?

MarioLemieux

MarioLemieux

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It seems like people who beat him up like Khabib, Nate and Dustin got a ton of fans after because people really wanted to see him get beat up.

He certainly has a bunch of diehard fans but I think most of the ppvs he sold was because he is just really good at playing a heel because he actually is one irl and a lot of people just want to see him lose.

And I really do mean that he is a great natural heel because if he was actually a good actor Road House would never have been a thing.

Topuria seems like a much better and more complete fighter than Conor with a gas tank and even O'Malley to a lesser degree, but they just don't have even close to the same level heel aura even though plenty of people still want to see them lose for similar reasons about being cocky loudmouths.
 
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Started with mostly fans, then a lot of haters, but most of his buys were probably casuals that didn't care either way.
Don't underestimate the number of casuals that will buy a huge card with a ton of hype just because it's a "cool event to do".
 
They got popular because beating McGregor gives them a lot of fame, not necessarily because McGregor was the bad guy. Connor was not the "bad guy" against Nate. Wasn't really the bad guy against Dustin in their 2nd match either. People loved when he came back and fought old Cerrone.

They got more popular the same reason why McGregor hit another tier of popularity after fighting Floyd, it was more exposure.

Even though Mcgregor has a heel persona in that he is brash, he is well liked. He has a lot of mannerisms like his walk that people found fun. For most of his career and most fights, he definitely is more liked than hated.

Tito Ortiz, Chael Sonnnen, and Colby Covington are more along the lines of guys people hate and want to see lose. McGregor's reception is closer to someone like Kobe Bryant or Derek Jeter in that they have a lot of haters because they are popular, pushed by the media, and probably annoy some fans that they are overrated (in terms of being GOAT type of athletes).


Topuria is well liked, but him going full heel will limit him. For the most part he is more well liked for being a hometown hero, but it will take him knocking out a few more guys to really catch on.
 
Doctor Grudge said:
They got popular because beating McGregor gives them a lot of fame, not necessarily because McGregor was the bad guy. Connor was not the "bad guy" against Nate. Wasn't really the bad guy against Dustin in their 2nd match either. People loved when he came back and fought old Cerrone.
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But Conor's career wasn't even that impressive by the time he fought Dustin he had already lost to Nate, Khabib, Floyd.

People were used to seeing him lose often by that point but it still made Dustin a superstar for knocking him out and then ending his career. People loved Dustin for it.
 
MarioLemieux said:
But Conor's career wasn't even that impressive by the time he fought Dustin he had already lost to Nate, Khabib, Floyd.

People were used to seeing him lose often by that point but it still made Dustin a superstar for knocking him out and then ending his career. People loved Dustin for it.
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He was by far the richest and highest earning mixed martial artist of all time by the time he fought Dustin, so yes, it was impressive, the most impressive.

McGregor's narrative and value was never about being unbeaten. You're confusing winning and losing with drawing power and popularity.

McGregor sold a million PPV's knocking out ancient Cerrone in 20 seconds or whatever right before he fought Diamond.

Dustin became popular because more people literally knew who he was when he beat McGregor. Same with Khabib. It's like having a product show on a commercial on basic cable during Pro Wrestling or whatever, and then all of a sudden that one product is shown during the Superbowl.

Beating McGregor is a big deal for making fightes more popular because for many people, McGregor is the only fighter they are even aware of.

I saw some guy get interviewed on the street and he was asked some MMA trivia question, and the only fighters he could name were McGregor and his opponents. That's probably really common.
 
blaseblase said:
No, Conor was insanely popular during his prime. Anyone who says otherwise were haters during that timeframe.. Go back and read the threads when he was on top.
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I thought it seemed he was more like more famous but less skilled version of O'Malley or even a guy like Jake Paul where everyone just wanted to see him get KO'ed.
 
Not at the time. People wanted to see if a guy who talked that well could go and translate that in the cage, and he delivered you can’t deny that. He delivered on his words every damn time.
 
No. Conor haters increased over time. Initially it was more fans than haters.
 
Here in Ireland everyone was obsessed with him and people of all ages started watching mma for the first time. Soon as he started losing the bjj clubs emptied and they stopped buying the ppv. I’d say there were a lot of Irish in England and the United States that fell into similar camps.
 
His fights were exciting and the press conferences hilarious. Only hardcores were paying to see him lose. Casuals were just following the trends. Per usual, it’s casuals that pay the bills 😔
 
MarioLemieux said:
It seems like people who beat him up like Khabib, Nate and Dustin got a ton of fans after because people really wanted to see him get beat up.

He certainly has a bunch of diehard fans but I think most of the ppvs he sold was because he is just really good at playing a heel because he actually is one irl and a lot of people just want to see him lose.

And I really do mean that he is a great natural heel because if he was actually a good actor Road House would never have been a thing.

Topuria seems like a much better and more complete fighter than Conor with a gas tank and even O'Malley to a lesser degree, but they just don't have even close to the same level heel aura even though plenty of people still want to see them lose for similar reasons about being cocky loudmouths.
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Mix of both
 
The answer is no. In the beginning Conor was liked and appreciated in the end his horrific mouth just pissed people off and they were tuning in to watch him lose, which he definitely did.

The sad part is this isn't an act, Conor is this cocky a$$ who people don't like.
 
No. I think at the end of the day, it was purely the entertainment factor. You knew you were getting your moneys worth watching Conor every time.
 
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