Dear Dana:
UFC 178 is this weekend, and for this event, we are being treated to something very special.
This is one of those rare cards where the main event is not what the fans are focused on. Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson faces Chris Cariaso for the UFC Flyweight Championship. The least popular weight division is headlining while featuring a no-name contender that is a massive underdog.
It’s no wonder that MMA fans have been looking forward to the other fights on the card, and thankfully, the UFC has stacked this card depth wise.
The long-awaited return of the former UFC Bantamweight Champion Dominick Cruz, the debut of Eddie Alvarez in the UFC against the always exciting Donald Cerrone, Cat Zingano’s return to the cage, Tim Kennedy vs. Yoel Romero, Patrick Cote vs. Stephen Thompson and many other veteran UFC and WEC fighters.
The fight that all of the fans are anticipating is the fight that you, Dana White, and the UFC have been advertising heavily for the past month.
The People’s Main Event: Dustin Poirier vs Conor McGregor
There are very few situations where a lighter weight class fight between the #5 and #9 ranked guy is regarded as the top fight on the card.
Dustin Poirier has shown that he is a very game fighter. Poirier has fought a total of 10 times since the UFC/WEC merger, posting a very impressive 8-2 record. Poirier has also had experience in fights against riled-up competition when fighting Erik Koch and Diego Brandao.
Conor McGregor has been given the pampered treatment when it comes to promotion by the UFC. In just his third fight with the promotion, McGregor main-evented a fight card held in his home town of Dublin, Ireland. In-front of 9500 screaming Irish fans, McGregor put on a striking clinic against a hostile, but over-matched Diego Brandao.
Now the UFC is putting McGregor on posters for UFC 178 for his fight with Poirier, something that doesn’t happen too often for lighter-weight fighters at the bottom of the Top 10. Luckily for McGregor, his words are what has given him the status as the next big name in the UFC.
McGregor’s Talent For Smack-Talk
In a sport that fuels more emotion and passion than any other, MMA hasn’t had many great personalities that were golden when given a microphone. Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell were the faces of the sport from 2002-2006, but both fighters came off as hesitant and awkward when given a mic.
Georges St. Pierre and Anderson Silva are arguably the two greatest and most popular fighters in the world, but both having English as a second language hindered their ability to rile up fans using their voices, as well both let their fighting in the cage do the talking.
McGregor has fallen into a short list of fighters in the UFC that have amazing talking skills along with the fighting skills it takess to be a top 10 fighter. Chael Sonnen and Brock Lesnar both took the UFC to PPV buys of near and over 1 million because of their exciting fighting styles and ability to trash talk. McGregor could very well follow a similar path if he continues to win.
McGregor showcased his speaking talents from the get-go at press conferences and in-front of media, and we are now at a point where MMA websites do not go a week without reporting something that McGregor has said and turning it into a news story.
Not all fighters no how to grab the media’s attention with every interview, and some fighters do a terrible job at belittling their opponents with their words. McGregor can do both exceptionally well, and it’s something that you, as a promoter Dana, should run with while you can.
One Hell Of A Fight
Both fighters have a reputation of putting on great, entertaining fights. You often hear the UFC promote fights that cannot disappoint. This is one fight that I would be very surprised with if it ended up being a snooze fest.
Another promotional tool that the UFC uses is the quote, “This fight won’t go the distance.” More often then not, when the UFC uses this line, the fight goes the distance. In this case, it’s going to be tough for both guys to not finish this fight between the 15 minutes they’re being given.
In 13 of his 16 wins, Poirier has finished his opponents with a good mix of submissions and knockouts. McGregor has a near perfect finishing rate, stopping 14 of his 15 wins, with the high majority being by knockout.
I am usually not one to want a fight promoted over a main event. This is one of those cases where the UFC is doing the right thing by hyping a non-title fight over the main event. This is something that the fans want, the media wants and that you want Dana. Kudos for investing in this fight.
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