For a man who made his name off of bold moves, we should have expected nothing less out of Conor McGregor.
‘The Notorious’ is the only man in combat sports, possibly in all of sport, who is capable of selling out an arena for a question and answer session and have fans all over the world pay to watch the broadcast of the interview on pay-per-view.
McGregor sat opposite esteemed MMA reporter Ariel Helwani in Manchester on Saturday evening for the unprecedented event, where droves of fight fans queued for hours to catch a glimpse of the UFC’s biggest star.
Not a great deal emerged from the sit down apart from the usual McGregor braggadocio but the reigning UFC lightweight champion did reveal that he expected his next bout to come in the boxing ring against one of the greatest of all time, Floyd Mayweather.
Multiple shots fired https://t.co/SlvaWbHljw
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) January 28, 2017
What made more headlines than anything uttered in the interview, though, was McGregor’s Instagram post earlier that night with which he ensured a boost in pay-per-view numbers for the chat as he perfunctorily dismissed the UFC, Mayweather, the WWE and you.
Yes you!
https://www.instagram.com/p/BP0mts0htrd/?taken-by=thenotoriousmma&hl=en
The Dubliner’s public derision of his employer was entertaining and not altogether surprising but it did not sit well with UFC president Dana White who, speaking from the promotion’s Denver event that same night, welcomed any challenge from his most reliable cash-cow.
But White warned McGregor that, in spite of the fighter’s popularity, it would not end well for him if he tried to take on the biggest mixed martial arts organisation in the world by co-promoting with Mayweather.
“When you’re about to do a pay-per-view that you’re charging five bucks to listen to you talk, I’m sure you’ve got to say some pretty crazy shit, alright?” White said during the UFC on FOX 23 post-fight press conference.
“You know how I feel about Conor, I’ve always shown Conor nothing but respect, and if he wants to go down that road with us, let me tell you, it will be an epic fail.”
All signs are pointing towards McGregor vs. Mayweather inching closer to a reality but White also rubbished suggestions that talks were underway to get the cross-sport clash made.
“Will it happen?” White said. “Here’s what I think the chances are: About the same as me being the backup quarterback for Brady on Sunday.”
