I cannot remember the last time a challenger overshadowed such a capable champion as Conor McGregor has done with Jose Aldo. In just over two years in the UFC, McGregor is already a much bigger star than the current champion.
That may bother some people because it is not fair, but it is the truth. McGregor is the star of this show. The proof was in the UFC’s contingency plans if Aldo could not fight.
Instead of postponing the fight they decided to bring in Chad Mendes to face McGregor for an interim title. Of course Aldo would then face the winner of that fight when healthy, but one thing has been made clear to the public and that is that McGregor is the main event. Losing him would have hurt them more than losing Aldo.
Dana White gave the reasons for making the McGregor and Mendes fight an interim title fight on “SportsCenter” on ESPN,
“Andre Pederneiras, his coach, called and basically said that Aldo’s rib is too painful, and he will not be fighting,” White said on the show. “So Chad Mendes now will fight Conor McGregor for the interim belt. Jose Aldo’s pulled out of five title fights. Conor’s ready to go. The No. 1 guy in the world, Chad Mendes, is ready to go. So it makes sense. They’ll fight for the interim title, and whenever Jose Aldo is ready, then that fight can happen to unify.
“It’s his decision. I don’t feel great about it. We’ve spent a lot of money promoting this fight. A lot of people are excited about the fight, so it’s definitely disappointing.”
Conor McGregor appeared along with Dana on the show making it his second appearance on the ESPN network. On Monday a segment with him and Chael Sonnen aired. That is a lot of attention for McGregor from ESPN, usually the kind that is reserved for current champions. It just speaks to McGregor’s star power and the UFC’s vested interest in him holding the belt even if it is an interim one.
Another reason for making this a title fight is it allows them to keep it as the main event and a five round fight. It would be hard to justify making a Mendes and McGregor non-title fight as the main event over Robbie Lawler and Rory MacDonald.
Since UFC 65 only one other card featuring two non-interim title fights has seen the lighter weight fight get the main event over the heavier.
That card was UFC 169 which saw Aldo’s teammate Renan Barao face Urijah Faber in the main event. While Aldo defended his title in the co-main against Ricardo Lamas. Sure, it was Faber’s name that drove that fight to the main event but still shows where Aldo and the featherweights stood in the UFC’s eyes.
Conor McGregor puts the featherweights in the spotlight
Before McGregor, the featherweights were taking second billing to the bantamweights. Now, McGregor versus Aldo was one of the most anticipated fights in the UFC’s history and could be one of its biggest PPV’s ever. It will certainly be the biggest of the year to date. The UFC has spent more money promoting it than any other fight in their history.
Ever since the McGregor versus Aldo fight was announced, fight fans have been anxiously waiting for July 11th to get here. We have all been dreading reading those words on Twitter, the ones that said either Aldo or McGregor had suffered an injury.
On June 23rd that is exactly what happened as reports of Aldo fracturing a rib start to circulate. We had been baited a few times before by the Twitter Trolls but this one was different. Instead of dismissing it the bigger names in the industry started confirming it.
The depression could be felt throughout the MMA world from Brazil to Ireland to Parts Unknown, as we felt the fight slipping away us.
We waited and waited until late Wednesday night they announced that Aldo’s ribs were just bruised. He would fight and if he could not go then Mendes was in place as a backup plan.
Most importantly for the UFC and many fans, especially the ones traveling from Ireland, McGregor was going to fight. He was first a minor sports star in his home country and is now one of their biggest. His Irish fans are fiercely loyal and many are traveling to Las Vegas for this fight.
Haters are going to hate but they will also buy the PPV
Now he is going to fight Mendes, and McGregor’s fans will still show up in Las Vegas and buy the PPV. His haters will be more motivated to tune in because they think McGregor will get tuned up by Mendes.
Many of McGregor’s haters have contended that the UFC has protected him from Mendes, Frankie Edgar, Dennis Bermudez and any top wrestler in the top ten. Now, he is being given the most decorated one in Mendes on short notice.
For the McGregor haters who feel that the UFC was gifting him a title, this is their revenge. They will be more likely to buy now than before if they think he has a better chance to lose. McGregor incites those kinds of feelings in fans.
When Arnold calls you The McGregornator on Twitter you have arrived
The UFC has never seen a star quite like McGregor before, combining his charisma, personality, gift-of-the-gab, and skill-set in the octagon. He arrived in the UFC as a star who just needed a bigger platform at a time when the UFC was losing some of their biggest stars. It was perfect timing for them both. He has quickly garnered the attention of Hollywood stars like Arnold Schwarzenegger as well as fans all over the world.
While the UFC has struggled to develop their own stars from within, they have shown they know how to get behind one. They were quick to see McGregor’s potential and were quick to back him after a few wins in the octagon. That has left a bad taste in some fan’s mouths turning them away from him but they still care about his fights even if they hate him.
McGregor exploded into the void that Georges St-Pierre’s extended time-off/retirement and Anderson Silva’s injuries and extended time away from the sport left behind. In that time he has quickly become a polarizing figure. One that is so polarizing that it has clouded people’s judgment on his abilities.
His fans think he can defeat any fighter from any weight class. While his haters think he could be taken down by Kimbo Slice.
On July 11th when Conor McGregor steps in the octagon to face Chad Mendes we will finally find out whether or not wrestling is his kryptonite. In fact because of that element combined with the short notice factor, it makes for possibly a more interesting fight than the one with Aldo. This could be the fight we all really wanted and just did not know it. It is certainly the fight we are getting in the main event for UFC 189.
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