McGregor is already a winner
Win or lose, ex-MMA star will earn at least $100M vs. Mayweather
For all the millions that will be wagered and wasted on this frenetic weekend of twisted reality, the biggest winner might be a man most believe will end Saturday night flat on his back.
Conor McGregor is the favorite of the masses, from the vast Irish influx that has flooded Sin City to the legion of Ultimate Fighting Championship disciples praying he proves a point against Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Common sense dictates that McGregor, in his pro boxing debut after years in mixed martial arts, will be outclassed by the finest pugilist of modern times. A Mayweather triumph, likely by knockout, is the persistent noise coming from the canny voices that set the odds in this city.
But by simply stepping into the ring, McGregor will attain that most elusive of Las Vegas propositions — a sure thing. In that moment, he will become wealthy beyond his wildest dreams, to the tune of at least $100 million.
Not bad for a man who was claiming social welfare checks four years ago and whose sum total earnings in the UFC are less than a third of what he will collect here.
Mayweather will make more, but for him the $200 million or so will simply add to what he had before or what he has already spent on cars and jets and whatever it is you do when you have nine figures to your name.
It is a fight that has been derided as a farce and a joke and has survived it all to sit poised to break the pay-per-view record.
It was built on a ludicrous concept that suddenly seems less so, with McGregor and Mayweather having talked us into believing the mightiest of upsets could transpire.
Perhaps it already has. After all,
McGregor shouldn’t be here. A kid from Dublin who lit up the UFC but has only had 10 bouts in the organization and lost one of them shouldn’t have been able to land himself such a monster payday. He shouldn’t even have been thinking about crossing over into a different sport and daring to challenge the best at it.
McGregor, though, works to a different reality, one focused more on what might be possible rather than what precedent has dictated. He envisioned this event before anyone did and used every aspect of modern behavior to put it into play. Making it happen is the true upset win.
As a public, we say we don’t like the loudmouthed, boastful, attention-seeking antics. But we must, or else how did this fight happen?
Having won already, at least on the financial side, it is worth now considering that McGregor goes in with nothing to lose. And somehow with even more to gain.
UFC President Dana White said this week that if McGregor scores the miraculous upset, that it would make him as the greatest combat sports fighter in history. It is hard to dispute that notion, so unprecedented is the task being attempted, and at that point, everything we thought we knew about the fight game would become moot.
Saul Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin, with a combined 86 wins and 67 knockouts to McGregor’s none, will fight here next month in a battle between two of the best pound-for-pound fighters on the planet.
It should be a bout boxing has long sought. Though while there will be interest and money aplenty, it will not scratch the surface of Saturday’s spectacle.
According to McGregor, there is no plan to take his money and run. He will, he says, compete again in both boxing and mixed martial arts, and dominate both.
When he says things, you start to believe them, if only because he has predicted so much accurately so far. The voice of reason in the back of your head says no way, not this time, but the critical theme of this promotion has been to create enough noise to drown that out.
McGregor is a master of sound, his words spilling out with volume, speed and ferocity. Now, with his face on billboards across the city, he has talked his way to this point and to the bank.
FOLLOW REPORTER MARTIN ROGERS
@mrogersUSAT for the latest news from fight weekend.