McGregor McRetires? No. But let's talk about him anyway.

[David]

McGregor already gets special treatment. I doubt if Aldo or Edgar had grumbled about attending the press conference that the UFC would be offering to ship out their entire gym and set it up exactly as they already have it at home, would they?

 

I'm a bit dubious about this sudden disinterest in promotional activities from a man who thrived on that shit not too long ago. Could the fact that he got comprehensively stopped in his last fight have anything to do with it? It would be quite difficult to peddle the same kind of banter when you're sitting next to an opponent who's already tapped you out not that long ago.

 

The promotional stuff is what made him his money, and he knows that.  

[TildeGuy~!]

McGregor already gets special treatment. I doubt if Aldo or Edgar had grumbled about attending the press conference that the UFC would be offering to ship out their entire gym and set it up exactly as they already have it at home, would they?

Where was this confirmed?

 

Dana got asked this at the 200 press conference yesterday and all he said was he was given a private jet to fly out there like every other fighter.

[David]

He certainly didn't deny it though, did he?

[TildeGuy~!]

So it hasn't been confirmed then.

[David]

In much the same way as it hasn't been confirmed that McGregor went to the UFC in the first instance in a private manner regarding his issues with the media schedule. There's a lot of stuff that's not been "confirmed" in this whole debacle, isn't there? You'd have to think that the information came from somewhere though, especially if the media guys are asking about it?

 

Again though, when we're talking about the one man who supposedly "get's it", why the fuck isn't he wanting to hype up his fights like he's always done? He loves getting on the good threads, the shades and getting out in front of an audience, doesn't he? That's pretty much what 90% of his popularity is built on, isn't it? 

 

His press conferences draw more eyeballs than some guys actual fights, when he talks the world listen and all that jazz? Up until now he's been more than happy to mug it up for the cameras, accuse his opponents of running scared, reminding us all of how much money he has and how he "runs the show" and so on.

 

Now it's all too much for him? This was the guy who prided himself on telling us all that he does what needs to be done, that always shows up and delivers. 

 

Now, coincidentally after he's lost, he's not so keen on getting in front of the cameras? Come on. 

 

The truth is, if this was anyone else they'd be getting blasted on this forum for "not getting it", we'd be hearing about how "McGregor was in their heads" and how they must not want to make money. At these pressers is where the hype train is really built, not on Twitter, Facebook or in Iceland. McGregor and Diaz face to face, verbally jousting and going back & forth with Dana all ruddy-faced trying to keep them apart.

 

Maybe McGregor really is jaded, and it's all just a coincidence that it's the one time where he'd need to think up some new banter to accommodate the fact he's been soundly beaten by this guy not that long ago that he chooses to sit out the bright lights and camera event.

 

Maybe the Diaz loss got in McGregor's head? 

Edited April 23, 2016 by David

[Carbomb]

I can't say I agree with the argument that, just because McGregor's been so heavily into promotion before, he should therefore be up for it now. There's a very clear circumstance that makes this current situation different from previous ones: that he's been beaten for the first time since reaching his current "incarnation", so to speak. Diaz has, unlike his previous UFC opponents, beaten him quite convincingly, and so he probably thinks he's going to need to put in more focus, time and effort than ever before to have a chance of beating him, and he feels the promotional schedule the UFC have drawn up won't allow him to do that.

 

Ultimately, it's his career as a fighter he's risking if he doesn't prepare properly. At best, he'll damage his marketability and therefore his and the company's earning potential, and at worst, he could lose his career via injury and/or damage. The fact that the UFC don't recognise that doesn't really surprise me; I've said it many times, but they're a typical American "yellow dog" company. Riding roughshod over their workforce's rights in order to squeeze every last dollar out of them is what they do. They're better than boxing promoters, but even I can be better than the likes of Don King just by getting up in the morning.

 

The thing is, both sides seem to have lost sight of the fact that working in synch with each other works out much better for them in the end rather than arguing with each other. In trying to assert their authority over McGregor, they risk killing the goose that laid the golden eggs. If they give him his leeway, they actually send out a much better message to the rest of the roster than is being made out: "If you promote your fights like this guy does, you will make the both of us money, and you'll get the megastar treatment. That includes getting the odd exemption that you need (provided you don't take the piss)."

 

EDIT: Also, David, the wording of your posts would suggest that you think his hype is the only thing that has got him where he is. Is that the case?

Edited April 23, 2016 by Carbomb

[lambyUK]

Re: David, Yep, if he was anyone else he would be blasted. But he's not, and no one else is Conor McGregor.

Edited April 23, 2016 by lambyUK

[David]

I can't say I agree with the argument that, just because McGregor's been so heavily into promotion before, he should therefore be up for it now. There's a very clear circumstance that makes this current situation different from previous ones: that he's been beaten for the first time since reaching his current "incarnation", so to speak. Diaz has, unlike his previous UFC opponents, beaten him quite convincingly, and so he probably thinks he's going to need to put in more focus, time and effort than ever before to have a chance of beating him, and he feels the promotional schedule the UFC have drawn up won't allow him to do that.

 

Ultimately, it's his career as a fighter he's risking if he doesn't prepare properly. At best, he'll damage his marketability and therefore his and the company's earning potential, and at worst, he could lose his career via injury and/or damage. The fact that the UFC don't recognise that doesn't really surprise me; I've said it many times, but they're a typical American "yellow dog" company. Riding roughshod over their workforce's rights in order to squeeze every last dollar out of them is what they do. They're better than boxing promoters, but even I can be better than the likes of Don King just by getting up in the morning.

 

The thing is, both sides seem to have lost sight of the fact that working in synch with each other works out much better for them in the end rather than arguing with each other. In trying to assert their authority over McGregor, they risk killing the goose that laid the golden eggs. If they give him his leeway, they actually send out a much better message to the rest of the roster than is being made out: "If you promote your fights like this guy does, you will make the both of us money, and you'll get the megastar treatment. That includes getting the odd exemption that you need (provided you don't take the piss)."

 

EDIT: Also, David, the wording of your posts would suggest that you think his hype is the only thing that has got him where he is. Is that the case?

 

I'm not quite sure where you've gotten that from to be honest, when I never once mentioned his fighting ability in my post? I clearly said that his ability to hype a fight is what 90% of his popularity is built on, which I don't think many would disagree with, would they?

 

Sure, he wins fights, but there's a lot of guys in the UFC who do that without the popularity that he has.

[David]

Re: David, Yep, if he was anyone else he would be blasted. But he's not, and no one else is Conor McGregor.

 

Regardless of who he is, he's looking like someone who's managed to do himself out of around $5 million, which is fucking dumb whichever way you look at it, especially for someone who bangs on about money so much.

[jimufctna24]

I'm a bit dubious about this sudden disinterest in promotional activities from a man who thrived on that shit not too long ago. 

It's not sudden.

 

On the RTE documentary series, McGregor voiced his discontent with promotional activities before his fight with Siver. 

 

McGregor already gets special treatment.

So he should.

 

If it wasn't for fighters like McGregor, Lesnar, Shamrock, Sonnen and Ortiz - the likes of Mighty Mouse, Edgar, Aldo and Silva wouldn't have such a platform to perform on. A lot of hardcore MMA fans (not you), seem to forget this. 

[David]

I never said he shouldn't get special treatment, which is why you'll never hear me moaning when he's getting the private jets, the villas in Vegas for his fight camp and any other perks of the job. He rightfully deserves them.

 

When it comes to fight promotion though, I think he's wrong. He claims he isn't paid to promote? He isn't getting those $5 million paycheques because of his fighting ability alone, is he? He's being paid them because he's drawing the crowd, making the noise and selling the PPV's, so that's his payment for his promotional work.

 

If he'd come into the UFC years ago with the mindset of "I get paid to fight, not promote" he'd probably still be getting $75,000 to show and $75,000 to win or something like that. He'd not be making millions every time he steps into the cage, that's for sure.

[jimufctna24]

That wasn't aimed at you. Just a general observation.

 

My take is that McGregor is within his rights to ask for a reduced promotional schedule. Given his status, his schedule is probably more rampant than any other fighter. Plus at this stage, I don't think there's much need to push the boat out to promote his rematch with Diaz. Other than the usual press conferences, the fight will sell itself. Remember, Floyd vs Pac pretty much sold itself last year, the prior hype was enough.

 

Whether McGregor has gone about this in the proper way is debatable. I'll wait until all the details come out. One thing to consider is the previously mentioned good cop/bad cop dynamic between Lorenzo and Dana. The door might shut on McGregor's UFC 200 participation from Dana's side, but Lorenzo still might be able to save the UFC's bacon. In 2009, Lorenzo managed to bring Tito Ortiz back - a man that Dana despised with a passion. 

[David]

The thing is, Dana didn't react in his usual fashion last night. He was calm, honest and seemed reasonable. I found myself agreeing with him.

[jimufctna24]

The thing is, Dana didn't react in his usual fashion last night. He was calm, honest and seemed reasonable. I found myself agreeing with him.

He's played that role in public before. Check his interview after they failed to sign Fedor, he came across as the reasonable party. It was the same when he brought Ortiz back in 2009 - he welcomed Tito back on Twitter and seemed cordial - yet after a while it was clear that he still held a grudge against him. 

 

While I'm not saying that Dana is 100% in the wrong on this occasion, his public demeanour doesn't always tell us much. 

Edited April 23, 2016 by jimufctna24

[David]

Yeah, and you'll be hard pressed to find a bigger critic of the guy on this forum than me, but I felt he was pretty honest last night. He made it clear that he liked Conor, he respects Conor, he didn't downplay what McGregor has done for the company, and he admitted that he wants Conor in the cage fighting.

 

But he reiterated that he simply cannot break the way things work, and have worked for over 15 years. You have to promote the fight, and you have to do the boring, shitty corporate nonsense like posing for photos, working with sponsors and suchlike.

 

McGregor should have addressed all of this before he signed to fight at the event. It's on him to clarify exactly what he's signing up for, and if he didn't know what his responsibilities would be media-wise when he signed his deal, then that's a pretty amateur move to make.

 

At the time when he was sitting down to sign the deal is the point where he has the power to ask for his responsibilities to be put into the bout agreement in writing, not once the three dates have been booked and planned and he's been advertised.