Conor 2.0: UFC’s Meal Ticket Transforming His Brand and Marketing Style, But Will Mr. Nice Guy Deliver The Big Money?; Conor Whips Cowboy 40 Seconds Into Round One With TKO In Las Vegas Saturday
By Cassandra Cousineau and Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
Conor McGregor’s bad boy image for years was great for UFC’s financial bottom line as a McGregor fight at a UFC show spiked pay-per-view and live attendance revenues.
The only problem with that bad boy marketing approach was that it was bad for McGregor the person outside the Octagon. The ugly dolly-bus incident in Brooklyn in 2018, two sexual assault allegations and the nasty metrics of seeing McGregor coldcock an elderly man in a pub in his home country have dogged the money-making UFC fighter and father of two.
It was clear with that type of recent rap sheet that McGregor realized he would have to evolve as a professional fighter and a human being.
This past week in Las Vegas where hundreds of media gathered for UFC 246 and McGregor’s showdown with Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone it became apparent that the Irishman was changing his personal life and his bad boy public persona.
“I made mistakes,” McGregor told ESPN, which has a comprehensive media deal with Las Vegas-based UFC.
McGregor has used the word, “structure,” as a buzzword when talking with the media this week to describe the new Conor.
Plainly speaking, McGregor came off as more mature and more grounded.
Check out even his wardrobe. Gone are the suits and bling and flash that were seen here in the pre-fight hoopla with Floyd Mayweather in the crossover boxing spectacle in Las Vegas in August 2017.
Here on UFC 246 Media Day at the UFC Apex building sits a man trying to find his back to the good graces of his fans, many of whom from his own country have written him off.
For all of UFC’s hype of McGregor this week, the bearded Irishman has not won a UFC match since Nov. 2016. He lost the boxing match against Mayweather in 2017 and a UFC fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov in 2018.
Leading up to the Mayweather spectacle, McGregor’s acerbic and toxic public demeanor was in full bloom. Take a look.
Then it was off to fight Khabib, who was personally offended by McGregor’s trash-talking ways that extended to cheap shots against Nurmagomedov’s religion, father and country. To McGregor, it was just part of his routine pre-fight marketing script of over-the-top behavior.
To the Russian fighter, McGregor’s words were literally fighting words. And they triggered Nurmagomeov — after defeating McGregor — to jump over the Octagon cage and onto one of McGregor’s friends and trainers. It also prompted then-Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval to flee T-Mobile Arena amid the chaos and melee, with the post-fight mess going down as one of the most embarrassing and dangerous episodes in UFC history.
It was that whole backdrop of behavior — from tossing a dolly onto a bus at a Brooklyn arena to acerbic trash-talking before losses to Mayweather and Khabib — that validated McGregor’s nickname, The Notorious.
But this week, McGregor’s public behavior has been downright gentlemanly not just for him but for any UFC fighter on the roster.
McGregor’s dance partner, Cerrone, has been equally respectful to his opponent. Here’s the two at a ceremonial weigh-in event at Park Theater Friday.
It’s a McGregor the public has never seen before.
In fact, the public didn’t see much of McGregor in his long-awaited bout with Cerrone because McGregor unleashed both aggression against Cowboy and a cathartic emotional release after being out of the Octagon for so long.
McGregor kicked, and punched Cerrone into submission with a TKO a mere 40 seconds into the first round. Cerrone is a popular fighter who was greatly outmatched in skill and power from the get-go with McGregor.
“Very honored to share the cage with Donald,” McGregor said. “Great respect.”
UFC President Dana White was impressed with McGregor: “I was blown away. He looked unbelievable.”
McGregor did take a moment to call out his next opponents, offering a slice of the old Conor by saying, “If any of you mouthy fools wanna get it, you can.”
He then walked back into the bowels of T-Mobile Arena, raising his fists in jubilation with fans.
White said McGregor fighting against Nurmagomeov in a rematch makes sense. It could be at a venue in Las Vegas, Dallas, New York or London, White said. He noted the McGregor vs Khabib PPV and gate numbers could rival McGregor vs Mayweather numbers in 2017.
McGregor said he would be willing to fight Khabib in Moscow. “I want to create spectacles for the people,” he said.
“He was a lot happier,” White said of McGregor’s demeanor this week. “What I saw this week was a guy who was happy and re-energized . . . I like this kid. How can you not like him?”
White also credited ESPN with hyping UFC 246 to the max. UFC and ESPN have a have a multi-year media agreement.
White, a big New England Patriots fan, enjoyed Pats quarterback Tom Brady being in the audience with Raiders owner Marc Davis. White would enjoy Brady coming to play for Davis in Las Vegas if the quarterback doesn’t play in Boston.
Meanwhile, Mayweather posted a Mayweather McGregor 2 2020 item on Instagram. White said he chatted with Mayweather Saturday night and acknowledged, “We’re doing something with Floyd.” He wasn’t more specific than that.
Meanwhile, McGregor quipped about Mayweather, “He’s a funny man, Floyd.”
It was a monster crowd at the venue by the Strip. The arena was packed with 19,040 fans — bigger attendance than a Golden Knights game. The gate revenue was juicy, too, at $11,089,129.
White, during a podcast with LVSportsBiz.com in June, said McGregor is stunningly rich.
So why does the Irishman continue to fight?
McGregor hinted as to why he still seeks to step in the Octagon.
“There’s no business like the fight business,” he told ESPN.
Now he will see if the fight business is as lucrative under the newly-grounded McGregor as it was under the bad boy McGregor. Here are his post-fight comments.
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