Official Conor McGregor thread (part 2). **Read warning in 1st post**

eddie73

The McGregor announcement is going to have potentially very good consequences for Joseph Duffy, as the UFC will be on the lookout for a new Irish MMA fighter to promote. Although Duffy would not have the same draw or near the same draw as McGregor, he is up there with the best of them and would compete for top honours if he got the fights and the purses to match. We will see. I think that McGregor is going to quit at the right time.

nomadchocolate

eddie73 wrote: »

The McGregor announcement is going to have potentially very good consequences for Joseph Duffy, as the UFC will be on the lookout for a new Irish MMA fighter to promote. Although Duffy would not have the same draw or near the same draw as McGregor, he is up there with the best of them and would compete for top honours if he got the fights and the purses to match. We will see. I think that McGregor is going to quit at the right time.

Wouldn't be so sure on that. Duffy got pulled from a bout due to contractual dispute

eddie73

It would have been worse for Duffy if he had fought in Belfast for peanuts. there is no doubt that he will get a big fight sooner rather than later and the fact that McGregor is stepping back from the sport for a while or forever, will give him a chance to profile Irish MMA. Big selling point there for the taking.

ardinn

Why is everyone saying he is taking a break / stepping back / retiring??

Did I miss the announcement?

DeVore

People in the IT game always say "think like Steve Jobs".... the intention being to think outside the box, push for quality and genius etc.
The problem is that there are very few Steve Jobs because, while I have some serious reservations about him in fact, he was pretty exceptional and people cant just wake up and decide that today they will be exceptional. It doesn't work like that!

Conor has a talent. Its a talent he has honed through almost lunatic levels of focus, much like GSP and others, in fact its a trait you find in most extremely successful practictioners of some activity, concerto pianists through golfers through chess players. They obsess about it and have a raw talent to begin with. You need both.

Very few people can be Conor because very few people have both AND the charisma to carry it off. Being a top fighter these days is one third fighter, one third business man and one third showman.
And the UFC knows that its very hard to find that combo in anyone at that level.

If Conor had just rocked up and put on a big mouth but had the record of the average FW fighter we wouldn't be talking about him now. The fact is that he rocked up with his big mouth, and then flattened the division and the champion. You cant just wake up and "be Conor McGregor" any more than I can wake up and be Steve Jobs.

bobmalooka

eddie73 wrote: »

The McGregor announcement is going to have potentially very good consequences for Joseph Duffy, as the UFC will be on the lookout for a new Irish MMA fighter to promote. Although Duffy would not have the same draw or near the same draw as McGregor, he is up there with the best of them and would compete for top honours if he got the fights and the purses to match. We will see. I think that McGregor is going to quit at the right time.

I doubt they give a rats arse that McGregor is Irish, they don't need a token Irish fighter the Irish market is immaterial to UFC.

I'm amazed anybody would think McGregor is being pushed because of nationality, he's a worldwide star. As good as Duffy is he'll never be on the same level.

(Big hypothetical) if he quit then his void would be filled by the next person with star quality regardless of where they come from.

wonderfullife

Wasn't looking to open a can of worms, just saying the timing struck me as peculiar.

Put it this way, if one of Eddie Alvarez training partners put it on Facebook that he needed $200 sponsorship money, you can be sure Conor would would destroy him over it!!

I wish Luka well and obviously it's in his best interests to get his own sponsorship money from somewhere! Just unfortunate timing of the post and makes Conor look stingy to his team-mates.

0byme75341jo28

Who's to say he'd even take the money off McGregor? Not everyone wants charity.

nomadchocolate

McGregor took 107 headstrikes against Diaz. He also fought a high intensity fight for 25 minutes.

I wonder if his chin and body will hold up against Alvarez and the weight cut?

DeVore

The UFC might not care about the indigenous Irish market (which is, at best, 10,000 bums on seats) but clearly there are a lot of fight fans in America who consider themselves of Irish decent or at least who are keen to get behind a "fighting irish" stereotype!
(But only if they are winning regularly...)

Too Tough To Die

nomadchocolate wrote: »

McGregor took 107 headstrikes against Diaz. He also fought a high intensity fight for 25 minutes.

I wonder if his chin and body will hold up against Alvarez and the weight cut?

Pitter patter punches, there was barely a mark on his face after the fight.

Tazzimus

TherapyBoy wrote: »

The easiest way to help out without setting a precedent & forking out money to individuals for years to come is to donate in terms of gym equipment, mats, machines, training gear & stuff like that which can be used by everyone. I'm sure he has helped out at SBG in some way, just being associated with the place will bring in more money through subs etc.

He paid for a new Dollamur mat for the striking area, that wasn't cheap.
He's also brought in a lot of Reebok gear for training, pads etc (I assume it was him anyway seeing as they sponsor him)


I'm sure there's plenty he does that we have no clue about.

Depp

DeVore wrote: »

The UFC might not care about the indigenous Irish market (which is, at best, 10,000 bums on seats) but clearly there are a lot of fight fans in America who consider themselves of Irish decent or at least who are keen to get behind a "fighting irish" stereotype!
(But only if they are winning regularly...)

100%, the irish diaspora in the states is massive and however distant their link may be a lot of them are quite proud of it, an irish guy doing well appeals to a huge demographic in america

Tazzimus wrote: »

He paid for a new Dollamur mat for the striking area, that wasn't cheap.
He's also brought in a lot of Reebok gear for training, pads etc (I assume it was him anyway seeing as they sponsor him)


I'm sure there's plenty he does that we have no clue about.

far as I know the gym/team itself is sponsored by reebok

ASOT

He also paid for the lads to go to America and train which obviously helped him but also helped the lads, got them all training gear also which was in one of the maclife videos. Im sure he does an awful lot more that goes unnoticed.

Tazzimus

Depp wrote: »

far as I know the gym/team itself is sponsored by reebok

Could be right, I remember seeing Ais Daly posting pics of here new Reebok stuff a while back actually.

Still, I'd say he does his fair share of helping out financially, but I'm sure most of them would like the opportunity to make it themselves, not get handouts from him.

wonderfullife

ASOT wrote: »

He also paid for the lads to go to America and train which obviously helped him but also helped the lads, got them all training gear also which was in one of the maclife videos. Im sure he does an awful lot more that goes unnoticed.

Yeah, don't get me wrong he's done a lot for the lads and team. Financially and otherwise. Peter Queally wrote a great post explaining Conor brought him to Vegas for the 8 weeks and he barely sparred with him - so it was clear he was doing it for Peters future. And i'm sure Cian Cowley, Lee Hammond, Ryan Curtis, Frans Mlambo etc benefitted from the few weeks they had over there.

My only point really on Luka Jelcic is the timing - literally hours after Conor is saying he's on track for $40 million this year and on the other hand you have a guy like Luka, who's been a huge help to Conor, scratching around for a couple of sponsors for his shorts. Worth pointing out that the fight Luka was looking for sponsors for was a charity fight.

Even if it is only 200 quid, the difficulty is if he sponsors Luka then there's 2 dozen lads feeling a bit put-out that they didn't get a few bob in sponsorship.

More money, more problems.

ASOT

wonderfullife wrote: »

Yeah, don't get me wrong he's done a lot for the lads and team. Financially and otherwise. Peter Queally wrote a great post explaining Conor brought him to Vegas for the 8 weeks and he barely sparred with him - so it was clear he was doing it for Peters future. And i'm sure Cian Cowley, Lee Hammond, Ryan Curtis, Frans Mlambo etc benefitted from the few weeks they had over there.

My only point really on Luka Jelcic is the timing - literally hours after Conor is saying he's on track for $40 million this year and on the other hand you have a guy like Luka, who's been a huge help to Conor, scratching around for a couple of sponsors for his shorts. Worth pointing out that the fight Luka was looking for sponsors for was a charity fight.

Even if it is only 200 quid, the difficulty is if he sponsors Luka then there's 2 dozen lads feeling a bit put-out that they didn't get a few bob in sponsorship.

More money, more problems.

Agree 100% its a damned if you do damned if you dont situation, for all we know Luka could have possibly turned him down if he offered and wanted to do it himself? I wouldnt know him myself but you never know people are like that, pride issue etc. Infairness if I was him and had his money id throw them all something and pop on the mac life logo like suggested. It wouldnt break the bank 100/200e.

wonderfullife

ASOT wrote: »

Agree 100% its a damned if you do damned if you dont situation, for all we know Luka could have possibly turned him down if he offered and wanted to do it himself? I wouldnt know him myself but you never know people are like that, pride issue etc. Infairness if I was him and had his money id throw them all something and pop on the mac life logo like suggested. It wouldnt break the bank 100/200e.

Agree. As i said, the likes of Luka, Charlie Ward etc what they would probably prefer is to get the likes of DeThrone or Joe.ie etc on board, a sponsor that might stick by them for 3 or 4 fights and get their name out there, as opposed to Conor just throwing them a few bob. That being said, if i was in Conors shoes i wouldn't want to give Eddie any easy comebacks...... and this is certainly an easy comeback when on one hand you've a guy boasting about $40 million and one of his training partners looking for a small few quid.

In other news, Ariel is certain on the MMA Hour that Conors "announcement" is not an announcement at all and has nothing to do with his fighting career. There'll be no retiring, no breaks, no WWE, no Hollywood. Which clearly points towards something to do with Dee, whether it's baby, wedding, break-up whatever. All i know for sure, and this means nothing much, is someone told me Dee wasn't drinking the last night she was out. Which could mean diddly squat.

nomadchocolate

Ariel Helwani (even though I don't like him for the Lesnar announcement) basically dampens down the McGregor announcement.

Wonder what Dana and Conors relationship is like. Likewise Conor and the Fertitias seemed to part on a sour note

.ak

nomadchocolate wrote: »

Ariel Helwani (even though I don't like him for the Lesnar announcement) basically dampens down the McGregor announcement.

Wonder what Dana and Conors relationship is like. Likewise Conor and the Fertitias seemed to part on a sour note

You don't like an MMA reporter reporting news about MMA?

wonderfullife

.ak wrote: »

You don't like an MMA reporting news about MMA?

I heard this a lot from people as well. That it "ruined the surprise". But you could apply that logic across all sports... saying The Mirror spoiled the surprise by revealing Zlatan had signed for Man Utd etc. Doesn't really make sense. It's their job to report any news and try report it first.

nomadchocolate

Sorry guys I can't seem to quote responses. Am I the only one having this issue?

Dana give an interview on the subject and I agreed with him. It wasn't about "ruining the surprise" but it just had no merit too it. I just don't see what he gained from tweeting it. Crying afterward was extremely weak.

In saying that the Fertitias security had previously choked Ariel so maybe this was his revenge!

HattrickNZ

On Conor's announcement.
I think its bull, or not anything that has been rumoured so far, except maybe marriage or dee is pregnant, as I would have thought conor is too focused at the min and has plenty of time for that when he does retire. but **** does happen.

Remember Dana announces this as an answer to a question he was asked on why he not not make conor fight at featherweight, "he had to fight it.....conor has some announcement...". That is no reason why dana can't make him fight at featherweight. Think its just dana being a promoter with this nonsense.To be honest you cannot really believe anything he says.

will be interesting to see what comes of it...

Subcomandante Marcos

nomadchocolate wrote: »

Sorry guys I can't seem to quote responses. Am I the only one having this issue?

Dana give an interview on the subject and I agreed with him. It wasn't about "ruining the surprise" but it just had no merit too it. I just don't see what he gained from tweeting it. Crying afterward was extremely weak.

In saying that the Fertitias security had previously choked Ariel so maybe this was his revenge!

He's a journalist. He got some information, he reported it. That's what jorunalists do.

He's the single most important MMA journalist on the planet and the UFC threw a hissyfit and try to blacklist him because he did his job and it backfired spectacularly on them and made them look like idiots. Their reaction was weak, he was a consummate professional throughout.

Depp

HattrickNZ wrote: »

On Conor's announcement.
I think its bull, or not anything that has been rumoured so far, except maybe marriage or dee is pregnant, as I would have thought conor is too focused at the min and has plenty of time for that when he does retire. but **** does happen.

Remember Dana announces this as an answer to a question he was asked on why he not not make conor fight at featherweight, "he had to fight it.....conor has some announcement...". That is no reason why dana can't make him fight at featherweight. Think its just dana being a promoter with this nonsense.To be honest you cannot really believe anything he says.

will be interesting to see what comes of it...

im telling ya one thing if the announcement is something like hes done at featherweight after all this speculation...

Paully D

nomadchocolate wrote: »

Ariel Helwani (even though I don't like him for the Lesnar announcement) basically dampens down the McGregor announcement.

Dana in talking utter bollocks once again shocker.

Mean Laqueefa

nomadchocolate wrote: »

Sorry guys I can't seem to quote responses. Am I the only one having this issue?

Dana give an interview on the subject and I agreed with him. It wasn't about "ruining the surprise" but it just had no merit too it. I just don't see what he gained from tweeting it. Crying afterward was extremely weak.

In saying that the Fertitias security had previously choked Ariel so maybe this was his revenge!

Dana surprise got ''ruined'' by a media member doing there job, he threw his bottle out of the pram.

He gained more respect from everyone who values the sport and gets a bigger cheer from everyone at pressers bar Conor. I dont understand why everyone still believes Dana. Chaps a scumbag ! Successful one tho, rumor is them suits are rebook and he collects outfitter pay

HattrickNZ

Depp wrote: »

HattrickNZ wrote: »

On Conor's announcement.
I think its bull, or not anything that has been rumoured so far, except maybe marriage or dee is pregnant, as I would have thought conor is too focused at the min and has plenty of time for that when he does retire. but **** does happen.

Remember Dana announces this as an answer to a question he was asked on why he not not make conor fight at featherweight, "he had to fight it.....conor has some announcement...". That is no reason why dana can't make him fight at featherweight. Think its just dana being a promoter with this nonsense.To be honest you cannot really believe anything he says.

will be interesting to see what comes of it...

im telling ya one thing if the announcement is something like hes done at featherweight after all this speculation...

quoting working for me.
yeah maybe that's it for health and safety reasons that he won't go back to feather. But conor did not seem to think that at the 205 presser "they'll need an army...". be interesting to see

Mean Laqueefa

For like 20 odd minutes there was brief sense of rational thought back in this thread.

Thank you woderfullife and ASOT.

RIP

Swashbuckler

I think the prospect of JK looming in the thread made people sensible for a bit.........