Perhaps Dana White’s latest comments on superstardom in the fight game were sparked by this tweet…
Moses pic.twitter.com/3HLxsUFYGJ
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) December 23, 2016
Conor McGregor is the man that made people tune in, needles move, PPV numbers climb and fight fans part with their cash in 2016.
Never before has a UFC fighter enjoyed such popularity in his sport and across the mainstream news and media. ‘The Notorious’ is at the vanguard of MMA’s surge into the regular sporting world.
The Dubliner made history by holding two UFC divisional belts at once, following his lightweight title win over Eddie Alvarez at Madison Square Garden. He also took in in excess of $40m for his three fights this year.
On top of that you have endorsement and sponsorship cheques coming in, chat show appearances, television commercials, video game deals, an MMA website launch and talk of acting roles.
McGregor is currently off assessing all of his options. He has UFC stars lining up, across divisions, to fight him next while many boxers are also calling him out.
Basking in all of my options pic.twitter.com/7UkyoWAxk2
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) December 16, 2016
While McGregor is at the top of the fight game, UFC president Dana White insists life goes on.
During an interview on The Michael Kay Show, White was asked about super-stardom and while not solely speaking about McGregor, or even women’s star Ronda Rousey, his comments were interesting. White said:
“People start to get ahead of themselves and they start to get crazy.
“The one thing, ego is a beautiful thing in the fight business. You have to have it. But ego destroys everything. Ego destroys the best.
“Guns n’ Roses can’t get together in the last ten years to put together another album or tour and play – it’s ego. The lists goes on and on of friendships and businesses and rock groups that have all broken up because of ego.
“It’s a dangerous thing sometimes too. You have to be careful. There’s a fine line with ego.”
Welcome to the jungle or king or the jungle?
The fact that Guns n’ Roses recently sold 1,000,000 tickets for European dates in less than 24 hours may interest him more than White’s ego talk.
