Conor McGregor was not interested in Khabib Nurmagomedov. He also no longer glanced at Justin Gaethje. But there are still many who are willing to be opponents McGregor because the game of The Notorious always has a high selling value at the UFC.
McGregor was at the highest peak of the UFC before 2017. He has always been a figure who is idolized. He is a big star. With a winning record plus an interesting character that he displays, a lot of talking and has the art of speech, McGregor brought UFC more widely known.
The defeat of Nate Diaz did not even make McGregor fall from the peak of popularity. McGregor even still praised for daring to go up to the welterweight class and finally succeeded in demanding revenge against Diaz in the rematch fight.
McGregor never fell from the top of the UFC. He himself chose to leave the honorable position by willing to duel against Floyd Mayweather Jr. in the boxing arena.
The large pay and the desire for proof make McGregor tempted to leave the octagon to fight in the corner of the rectangle.
The UFC had done their utmost to hold McGregor, but in the end they had to let go. When McGregor left, Khabib Nurmagomedov finally filled the abandoned peak position.
When McGregor returned with defeat from Mayweather, the UFC still gave him a place of honor. McGregor was immediately given a free path in the form of a fight against Khabib in the race for the UFC light class title.
In this grand duel McGregor’s self-esteem began to fall. His great figure began to hurt. McGregor’s large mouth is no longer accompanied by the ability to suppress opponents.
McGregor was made surrender. McGregor was defeated by Khabib’s strangulation. A landslide victory over McGregor in the match.
McGregor then began to state many reasons. Starting from the lack of preparation to underestimate Khabib. That did not correct McGregor’s defeat, but it only made McGregor’s self-esteem worse.
Looking at the victory, Khabib has insisted he is not interested in facing McGregor for the second time. Khabib considers he has won a landslide so there is no need to prove anything else.
Entering 2020, when McGregor claimed to have been fully focused and returned to thirst for battle, he tried to arrange a plan with a lightweight belt to be the main goal.
After Justin Gaethje surprisingly conquered Tony Ferguson, it turned out to have an immediate impact on McGregor.
McGregor who planned to meet Gaethje is now losing opponents. Gaethje also refused to face McGregor in the next match because he wanted to directly meet Khabib in the title fight duel.
McGregor was completely excluded from the lightweight elite group because Tony Ferguson, Gaethje and Khabib were both not interested in facing him.
McGregor Still Has a Selling Value
Although McGregor is not in demand by Khabib and Gaethje at this time, McGregor does not need to be discouraged. He still has a very high selling value.
McGregor did lose a lot, especially in technical matters over the octagon through the defeat he suffered.
But in terms of popularity and character, McGregor’s selling points are not that easy to fall. McGregor is still in the highest place. McGregor is still a ‘flagship product’ for UFC to sell.
One proof is when UFC President Dana White firmly said that he had not considered McGregor’s duel without an audience because he did not want to lose the potential profit from spectator tickets.
In the list of five duels with the most revenue from audience tickets, McGregor participated in the three duels, namely through McGregor vs. Eddie Alvarez (1), McGregor vs. Khabib (2), and McGregor vs Cowboy Cerrone (4).
McGregor also controls the highest pay per view list in UFC history. The three highest pay per view lists always have the name McGregor, the McGregor vs Khabib duel, and the pair of McGregor’s duel versus Diaz.
Not only for UFC, McGregor also has high selling points for other fighters. Facing McGregor is similar to the road to success and abundance of matter.
Because it was so McGregor planned to go up to the welterweight class, he was immediately welcomed warmly. Kamaru Usman, the welterweight champion, immediately reacted to give a challenge.
Long before that Jorge Masvidal had stated that the match against McGregor was the only logical match for him to play if he again failed to face Kamaru Usman in a title fight duel.
Even though they are champions, the names Usman and Masvidal may not be as big as McGregor in terms of popularity and attractiveness.
The welterweight heroes were aware that McGregor’s presence was not entirely like a ‘new kid’ that should be underestimated.
McGregor is a piece of gold that will still be contested by many parties, despite its position thrown from the elite in the lightweight class today
