Issue 139
March 2016
Mystic Mac was right again, his services are required to spice up another weight class.
When Conor McGregor said the lightweight division needed him at the UFC’s Go Big media summit in September, everybody at 155lb was in uproar. Months before he became the featherweight number one, the Irishman poured scorn all over the weight class above and determined his presence was required to give MMA’s busiest division some much needed fan interest. And, you know what, he’s been proven right – again.
It feels like all the fun has been sucked out of 155lb, and that’s not meant as a slight at current champion Rafael dos Anjos. Fan-favorite needle pushers like BJ Penn, ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone, Nate Diaz and Frankie Edgar have either jumped ship or are failing to recapture former glories – and it’s left a hole.
The biggest and most competitive weight division of all lacks star power in 2016.
If not Conor, who else sells as a creditable opponent for RDA? Anthony Pettis was made for him. Eddie Alvarez is made for him. While Tony Ferguson and Michael Johnson are both still someway off being headline acts. Only Russian Khabib Nurmagomedov, who suppressed RDA back in 2014, is a genuine threat. Yet with just that one outing in the last three years, you have to wonder whether the Russian will ever be truly fighting fit again.
From a martial arts standpoint, the dos Anjos of today is an outstanding and worthy world champion. Rather like teammate Fabricio Werdum, the once one-trick pony BJJ player has evolved into an all-round wrecking machine fighter. But his no-nonsense approach to the fight game does not sell pay-per-views.
RDA is a gym rat, a dedicated family man and, as with so many other Brazilian stars, you get the feeling the best bits of his personality are lost somewhere in translation. Talent aside, and there is plenty of it, he’s simply not polarizing enough with fans or media to engage the audience – and the weight class is suffering because of it.
As we all know, general interest in weight divisions naturally wanes as the athletes get lighter. That’s just a fact of the fight game. So to truly shine under 170lb you’ve got to have something more than the skills of a ninja. You’ve got to be able to sell a fight and engage an audience.
Paying fans want a show, but that’s generally not a facet deemed as a requirement in the make-up of most Brazilians, who more often than not see their performances in the Octagon as the only necessity in selling fights.
But the truth is, MMA stardom comes from far more than what you do in 4oz gloves two or three times a year. Conor has proven that.
There’s a reason why he’s probably the best-paid athlete in the UFC. There’s a reason why his fight cards sell PPVs in seven figures. There’s a reason why the world seems to stop every time he steps into the cage. He’s a superstar and his charisma and ability to capture the attention of sports fans on every continent are the main reasons. Love him or loathe him, nobody wants to miss him.
McGregor’s lightweight debut – scheduled for UFC 197 – should be celebrated by every other fighter in the 155lb ranks.
Their golden paycheck has arrived and, whether that’s enough to dress your partner up in red panties or not, the McGregor effect has the ability to raise MMA’s biggest weight class to the heights it deserves.
Main attraction
Mac means money
Conor McGregor attracts eyeballs. His two 2015 PPV events drew more than two million buys combined, while his Fight Night on Fox Sports 1 averaged 2.75m viewers – a station record. RDA only managed 310,000 PPV buys at UFC 185, and his first title defense peaked at 2.28m viewers on ‘big’ FOX.
