ESPN MMA journalist Ariel Helwani has said that Conor McGregor’s new six-fight deal with the UFC means absolutely nothing and that Thursday’s UFC 229 pre-fight press conference in New York was a victory for his new whiskey brand Proper No. Twelve.
McGregor inked a new six fight deal with the UFC on Thursday in which Proper No. Twelve will be a sponsor in every UFC event in which the Dubliner fights.
Helwani highlighted on his Ariel and The Bad Guy show with former UFC middleweight contender Chael Sonnen that McGregor’s new deal was a PR move by the UFC and that the former two-weight world champion still had four fights left on his previous deal before signing a new contract with the company.
“It means nothing,” said Helwani.
“Six fights mean nothing. It’s PR. It means absolutely nothing. Absolutely nothing. He had four fights left on his old deal. Six fights? Are you kidding me? That’s nothing. That’s Dana White’s way of saying ‘we got him. Everyone be happy, we got him’.
“No you didn’t get him. After this fight he’s going to renegotiate another deal, then after that another deal and another deal and another deal.
“This was a victory for Conor McGregor and Proper No. 12 Whiskey that is going to be on the canvas on October 6th and for every one of his fights, how many he chooses to compete in.
Helwani continued: “This isn’t the NBA, this isn’t major league baseball, a six fight deal means nothing. If the UFC wants to cut Conor McGregor after that first fight they can cut him.
“Now here’s the beauty of the contract as far as the UFC is concerned. He can’t cut himself from the contract. He can’t walk away but they can cut him. They have all the power. That’s a different topic for a different day but it means nothing. Absolutely nothing.”
Psssssst. I have a little secret for you: six-fight deals don’t really mean anything when your name is Conor McGregor pic.twitter.com/L9boCJuwbs
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) September 22, 2018
McGregor will return to the Octagon for the first time in nearly two years next month when he faces the undefeated Khabib Nurmagomedov in the main event of UFC 229. His last fight in the UFC was in November 2016 when he stopped former Lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez in the second round at Madison Square Garden in New York.
