Fallen ‘idol’
McGregor act loses its punch as the light declines
‘WE DON’T SEE McGREGOR IN ANY REAL FIGHTS WITH TOUGH GUYS’
AND now for his next trick… The sense that Conor McGregor is more of a modern-day PT Barnum, never underestimating the taste of the general public, rather than Muhammad Ali for the Facebook generation was reinforced in his first scheduled public appearance for the UFC in almost two years.
If McGregor was truly concerned with the legitimacy that he occasionally seems to crave as an athlete, it is difficult to understand why he spent most of the UFC 229 press conference hawking his new whiskey product or slagging off his opponent’s father rather than dissecting Khabib Nurmagomedov’s moves inside the octagon.
In trying to put some sort of rhyme or reason on the extraordinary rise of McGregor, from drawing the dole to becoming the biggest superstar in his sport, it is always wiser to view the Dubliner as more of a salesperson than a sportsperson.
Of course, his defenders will say that is ridiculous. He may not be the greatest mixed martial artist in history but he has won titles at two different weights and was able to withstand one of boxing’s all-time greats for 10 rounds after only a few months of a training camp
As with everything in this story, there are caveats. He never defended either of the UFC titles which he won and was stripped of both belts in a rare display of Dana White and the UFC actually standing up to their biggest star.
In combat sports, a champion that simply wins the belt without trying to defend it can hardly be considered among the greats while the ten rounds that Floyd Mayweather chose to dance around him in Las Vegas will always be greeted with justifiable cynicism.
The idea that ‘the fight of the century’ was even a credible sporting contest was scuppered by revelations that Mayweather spent much of his preparations for the bout in one of his gentleman’s club in Vegas. And the suspicion remains that the bout only lasted as long as it did because Mayweather wanted it to last that long.
In the 13 months since he walked away with riches beyond his wildest dreams from a Vegas ring, McGregor has packed a lot in. There have been scrapes with the law in both Dublin and New York, and the flirtation with Mayweather over a possible re-match. All the while, he has cast a large shadow over the entire UFC organisation.
After McGregor appeared out of control in attacking Nurmagomedov’s bus in New York back in April, UFC supremo White even made the suggestion that the organisation might cut ties. But that wasn’t going to happen. However, if McGregor, and indeed White, has learnt anything from the Dubliner’s 691 days away from the Octagon, it is that the UFC need their superstar more than he needs them. It’s why he has been able to wrangle a recent six-fight deal out of them, even though he turned 30 earlier this year. Do even McGregor’s most ardent supporters believe that he will complete that deal given that he hasn’t fought inside an Octagon in almost two years? Even if he increases his activity to one fight a year, it means he will still be insulting opponents at 36. Hard to see, isn’t it? But this deal only serves to underline that the UFC desperately need McGregor. For all its chestbeating about mixed martial arts being the fastest growing sport in the world, they have had trouble producing marketable bona fide superstars that become its face – admittedly this is partly because so many of its stars are Brazilian and don’t speak the fluent English needed to market products in the US.
Ronda Roussey was once its biggest star, but these days, she is found in Vince McMahon’s WWE circus (incidentally, McGregor has fluttered his eyelids at the wrestling promoter in the past and even appropriated his strut for his own shtick).
As the hype train moves from the station in Las Vegas this week, most of McGregor’s most passionate fans will be more eager to hear what he says about his Russian opponent in the press conference, rather than how he deals with Nurmagomedov’s awesome groundgame. The pre-fight press conference this week will get more views than the actual bout, as people wonder how far the Dubliner will go to get inside the Russian’s head.
He sensibly veered away from religion in the recent press conference in New York but point- ing to Nurmagomedov’s association with Chechen dictator Razan Kadyrov seemed hollow, even for McGregor given that it came only a few weeks after his own ill-judged, and cringeworthy, selfie with Vladimir Putin at the World Cup final.
It proved yet again that there is little substance to anything that comes out of McGregor’s mouth. It is all for show, because the show is all that matters.
And yet, in a purely athletic sense, McGregor has a lot of questions to answer in this lightweight title showdown. Earlier this year, former UFC bantamweight women’s champion Cris Cyborg put McGregor and Rousey in the same boat when she skewered them as the most over-rated and over-hyped fighters in UFC history.
‘I think you see already Ronda Rousey. Everyone thinks she is the best fighter ever, pound for pound, and then you see when she fights real fighters, she has a hard time.
‘And then McGregor – he’s never seen fighting a guy who’s tough. I would like to see him fight Khabib. McGregor has a big name but you don’t know, we don’t see him in a real fight with tough guys.’
Even within the MMA, McGregor polarises opinion. His greatest moment remains that stunning knock-out of Jose Aldo inside 13 seconds. That made people sit up and take notice and accept that he had to be taken seriously. However, since then, his troubles with Nate Diaz, who has a patchy record of 19-11, has added more fuel to the fire of his critics who believe that he is not all that.
It has always been about the show. The bottom line has always been about the numbers generated by the bout and next Saturday night’s showdown in Las Vegas is expected to attract the most pay-per-view subscriptions of any of their events. There is talk that it might exceed two million buys. Nobody but McGregor can generate those sorts of numbers.
But what if – as seems a genuine possibility – he ends up losing? Remember Nurmagoedov has beaten everyone he has ever faced in professional MMA. His 26-0 record is remarkable in a sport where at least one defeat is seen as inevitable.
And he is considered the best grappler in the organisation – and it has been against opponents with wrestling skills that McGregor has had difficulty with in the past.
This test is a real one for the ‘Notorious’ and, for once, the hype may be justified even if using the bus attack footage to promote this bout leaves a sour taste – a tactic more in keeping with the way WWE market their pseudo-sport
It will all be forgotten during the week as the insults fly from his mouth, but there is a lot on the line for McGregor next Saturday night.
If he wins after almost two years away from the octagon, it will go down as his greatest accomplishment ever.
However, if he’s unable to withstand the Dagestani’s vicious ground-work, it will add more fuel to the theory that his greatest attribute is his gift of the gab. And that he remains more of a salesperson than sportsperson.