UFC 229: Khabib vs McGregor

[WeeAl]

I heard Meltzer going on about this the other day, though I wasn't sure if it was him guessing that's what happened or if McGregor had put that out there that he wouldn't be doing the media rounds. I'm shocked by it, if it's the case and would be disappointed if there wasn't something, but as the fight gets closer, I wouldn't expect that it would hurt my excitement level If they just do the bare bones. As Wand says, it's possibly a good thing if McG is keeping his head down. 

As for why the fight gets made, there's a huge payday here for McGregor that's for sure. Certainly his biggest MMA payday. However I'll give him a lot of praise for going for this fight rather than the GSP/Nate/wrangle a WW title fight possible options. He picked possibly the hardest fight out there that he could, when he probably wouldn't have gotten too much stick if he took a different option. He's a fucking head melter, and an idiot, but he didn't shy away from what is going to be his biggest challenge. It's a no-brainer for Khabib from a money point of view, but it's a huge fight for him too in the respect that, whoever wins, I'm expecting a blowout. I don't think this is going to be a back and forth war, or a tentative strategic fight. Somebody is going limp, and in devastating fashion. Either McGregor on the ground via mauling in the first or the second, or Khabib from a straight left in the first or second. I think someone adds a blowout to their record. 

[David]

I was actually looking forward to seeing if McG's head games would work on a guy who seems as mentally unbreakable as Khabib too. Shame it's not looking like we're going to find out.

[Dead Mike]

12 hours ago, WeeAl said:

 

 However I'll give him a lot of praise for going for this fight rather than the GSP/Nate/wrangle a WW title fight possible options. He picked possibly the hardest fight out there that he could, when he probably wouldn't have gotten too much stick if he took a different option.

Nah mate. After all of McGregor's coked up nonsense him coming back & wanting to fight Nate Diaz again & ducking Khabib would've seen him taking absolute pelters.

[ColinBollocks]

It's almost like Conor is maybe doing this for both financial and sporting gains. I know some have been trying to paint McGregor as a whimpering cash cow when it comes to Khabib, but he's clearly not blinking at the thought of Khabib - he's mental like that, he did think he had a shot v Mayweather, after all. Instead, getting his head down and working his arse off in the gym.

On Conor not doing media, it's worth noting that he's been asking for this ever since he dropped Aldo. Obviously now he's got the power to tell them to piss off so he can spend his energy focussing on training. Rousey did no media for her last fight and it done over 1M. I expect Conor to throw some heat on this come fight week, however.

 

[Carbomb]

1 hour ago, ColinBollocks said:

It's almost like Conor is maybe doing this for both financial and sporting gains. I know some have been trying to paint McGregor as a whimpering cash cow when it comes to Khabib, but he's clearly not blinking at the thought of Khabib - he's mental like that, he did think he had a shot v Mayweather, after all. Instead, getting his head down and working his arse off in the gym.

On Conor not doing media, it's worth noting that he's been asking for this ever since he dropped Aldo. Obviously now he's got the power to tell them to piss off so he can spend his energy focussing on training. Rousey did no media for her last fight and it done over 1M. I expect Conor to throw some heat on this come fight week, however.

 

This kind of sums it up, really. When the UFC's marketing machine can be bothered, the fighters don't really need to do so much media work, which is kind of half the point of a promoter, anyway. Besides, McG's done so much leg-work that he's pretty much done their job for them before they've even started; he doesn't need to do a media tour, he's got instant recognition and interest. Basically, he's given the UFC an open goal; if they've got such a severe problem with him not doing publicity, their current PR department is shit at their job. 

Besides, I'm no marketing genius, but even I can see how they can spin it: "This is such a huge fight, even Conor McGregor has had to shut up and focus." They can easily create a promo video centred around that.

That Rousey "promotion" still sticks in my craw, though. Nunes should be so much bigger a star from that match, and she isn't. Disgraceful.

[Tamura]

55 minutes ago, Carbomb said:

That Rousey "promotion" still sticks in my craw, though. Nunes should be so much bigger a star from that match, and she isn't. Disgraceful.

 

[AdamTH17]

I'm not worried in the slightest about McGregor's lack of media presence hurting PPV buys. He's a genius when it comes to promotion. He'll keep his head down, work his arse off in the gym, build up intrigue regarding him doing no media, and then come fight week when all his hard work is done he'll pull some bullshit to take the hype up to 11/10.

[Carbomb]

@Tamura - In that analogy, Mike is other MMA fighters. Walter is still feared by people who think he is that dangerous - that's the MMA crowd, or at least the casuals who don't know any better. The UFC could've marketed Nunes easily, and they should've done it anyway - what kind of fighting promotion doesn't promote their champion? Not to mention she's a killer with a load of footage to make her look deadly, plus she's the UFC's first openly gay champion, which could draw the "rainbow dollar".

Besides, that analogy falls down because, actually, Nunes is Jesse James! She didn't just beat Rousey, she beat her convincingly, and she beat a Who's Who of other high-profile fighters on her way up.

[Bus Surfer]

15 minutes ago, Tamura said:

 

True that. 

Whilst I agree that they really shunned her in the promotion during the Ronda fight, there's nothing about her that screams likeable. She come's off a little awkward and the language barrier is obviously a big factor. The promotion wouldn't have hurt, but she wasn't becoming a megastar overnight. 

[David]

2 hours ago, ColinBollocks said:

It's almost like Conor is maybe doing this for both financial and sporting gains. I know some have been trying to paint McGregor as a whimpering cash cow when it comes to Khabib, but he's clearly not blinking at the thought of Khabib - he's mental like that, he did think he had a shot v Mayweather, after all. Instead, getting his head down and working his arse off in the gym.

No one on here is, are they?

I'm certainly not. I think McG is the very definition of a prize fighter, in that he'll face anyone if the numbers add up. Any notion that he's afraid of Khabib is ludicrous really, and that goes for any of these guys who do this for a living.

What's the worst that can happen? He get's knocked out? Tapped out? Beaten and stopped via TKO? Most of them have suffered this fate in a gym or an arena somewhere over the years, including Khabib I may add.

Nah, they ain't afraid of some physical pain.

[Carbomb]

1 hour ago, Silky Kisser said:

True that. 

Whilst I agree that they really shunned her in the promotion during the Ronda fight, there's nothing about her that screams likeable. She come's off a little awkward and the language barrier is obviously a big factor. The promotion wouldn't have hurt, but she wasn't becoming a megastar overnight. 

Wait a sec. I never said Nunes should be as big a star as Rousey. I said she should be a bigger star than she is. I don't think anyone could argue with that.

[Bus Surfer]

46 minutes ago, Carbomb said:

Wait a sec. I never said Nunes should be as big a star as Rousey. I said she should be a bigger star than she is. I don't think anyone could argue with that.

Fair do's. 

Still, maybe it's just me, but even after she starched Ronda (which in my eyes is way better promotion that any video package or sound bite they could use pre fight), she still didn't catch on. I don't really see anything that they could have done before hand which would really pushed her into the public eye as someone to care about. To me, there's nothing there to get invested in. 

No doubt they didn't didn't feature her which is dumb and a slap to her face, but she's been the champ for a long time now post Rousey, and she doesn't seem to have caught on one bit, or move the needle at all and I don't think that's solely down to lack of UFC promotion upto the Rousey fight. I believe her awkward interviews and the language barrier to be bigger detriments. 

[Carbomb]

10 minutes ago, Silky Kisser said:

Fair do's. 

Still, maybe it's just me, but even after she starched Ronda (which in my eyes is way better promotion that any video package or sound bite they could use pre fight), she still didn't catch on. I don't really see anything that they could have done before hand which would really pushed her into the public eye as someone to care about. To me, there's nothing there to get invested in. 

No doubt they didn't didn't feature her which is dumb and a slap to her face, but she's been the champ for a long time now post Rousey, and she doesn't seem to have caught on one bit, or move the needle at all and I don't think that's solely down to lack of UFC promotion upto the Rousey fight. I believe her awkward interviews and the language barrier to be bigger detriments. 

I don't know, man. The cynical, wrestling fan part of me says most casual crowds can be led by the nose to a certain degree with the right level and type of promotion. Either way, we'll never know, because the UFC didn't even try. 

It's a major factor, but I don't believe the language barrier is such an insurmountable obstacle; there've been several Brazilian stars who got by with just an interpreter. They could've got comments from her to build up the rivalry, could've pointed out that, whilst Rousey was being seen as this big hero to women worldwide and a feminist icon, Nunes was probably more of a hero, given that she grew up in a poor town, faced stigma as a gay woman in a Catholic country, and she doesn't have the blonde haired, blue-eyed, apple-pie look either. If it was me in that situation, I'd be saying something like: "They're all talking about her but I'm the champion. Don't look past me", etc.

 

Let me put it this way: Nunes is the champion, and beat the big global star, and her profile is lower than that of a top five contender. 

Even sadder: she's probably only going to finally appear on people's radars when the UFC do finally start promoting her - and the most eyeballs she's ever had will witness her as cannon-fodder for Cyborg. 

[Bus Surfer]

I mean they could run the whole, grew up poor, hard life angle at any point. They just choose not to do it, or maybe she doesn't wanna do it. 

Point taken about interpreters, it's a big thing for someone like Yoel, but she doesn't use them. Instead she bumbles her way though (props for trying) but it leaves me totally disconnected. She also comes off as not the sharpest knife in the drawer which doesn't help. I've never seen her try to promote herself in anyway either. Apart from calling out Cyborg and then back pedaling. 

Maybe it's just me. Great fighter, but I think you need more than that to become a star these days. If the crowd didn't take after she blitzed Ronda, I don't think much promotion before then was gonna tip her popularity over the edge. 

 

[wandshogun09]

3 hours ago, AdamTH17 said:

I'm not worried in the slightest about McGregor's lack of media presence hurting PPV buys. He's a genius when it comes to promotion. He'll keep his head down, work his arse off in the gym, build up intrigue regarding him doing no media, and then come fight week when all his hard work is done he'll pull some bullshit to take the hype up to 11/10.

I'm not worried about that at all. Why would anyone? It doesn't make a difference to me whether it does a billion buys or 3 buys. I'm just hoping for more in the way of build up because it's fun to watch that stuff and it makes the anticipation in the run up to the fight that much better. 

I think you're right though, there's no way things don't pick up hype-wise on fight week. They haven't been around each other or had chance to interact at all since the bus thing in April so I guess it's understandable that the buildup has been quiet so far. We're still a month out anyway. When the fight starts getting really close and they're both peaking physically and mentally and we start getting the Countdowns and Embeddeds and all that jazz, there's no way these two won't deliver some pre-fight gold. Even if McGregor doesn't fancy doing media there'll be something.