Advertisement

UFC’s Conor McGregor expects a big belt to fit his expanding brand

Conor McGregor lands a kick against Chad Mendes during their interim featherweight title fight at UFC 189.

Conor McGregor lands a kick against Chad Mendes during their interim featherweight title fight at UFC 189.

(John Locher / Associated Press)
Share

Conor McGregor spent Wednesday doing what he’s best at -- driving up his value.

Days removed from wrapping up his involvement in the recorded “The Ultimate Fighter” series that will begin Sept. 9 on Fox Sports 1, McGregor spoke to reporters at the Palm restaurant in Los Angeles.

He chatted about coaching against Urijah Faber in the reality television series and about his most pressing next interest: the chance to win the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s featherweight belt from long-reigning champion Jose Aldo on Dec. 12 at MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Tickets for that card, which includes a middleweight title fight between champion Chris Weidman and contender Luke Rockhold, go on sale Sept. 11.

Advertisement

McGregor, from Ireland, said he’ll beat Aldo, from Brazil, and then pursue the UFC’s lightweight belt “to put over the other shoulder.”

On July 11, McGregor drew a UFC-record $7.1-million live gate at MGM Grand while defeating then-top-ranked featherweight Chad Mendes by second-round technical knockout after Aldo withdrew weeks earlier because of a rib injury.

Even though Aldo has said he hasn’t watched the fight, in which McGregor escaped from Mendes’ wrestling pressure to finish him, McGregor said Aldo “was tuned in, with rosary beads in his hand, praying to a picture of Jesus on the wall. ... The true greats conquer adversity like a chainsaw through butter. [Aldo] ran, he did face adversity. Now, he’s back, back with a weak mind.

“Here we are Jose, I’m ready to go again.”

McGregor said his schedule has been nonstop work since beating Mendes.

“It’s been intense. I’m the hardest worker in the game, and the highest paid in the game,” McGregor said. “There’s days when it’s too much, but the reward, when you reap the benefits of this game, it’s worth every second.”

He filmed this week a UFC promo and a Reebok ad with the organization’s other major star, Ronda Rousey, at her Glendale gym.

“When they told me six weeks before the fight, I said, ‘Of course I want to coach “TUF,” but then everything happened [with Aldo’s injury] and I stepped a foot back,” McGregor said.

Advertisement

“The [original] plan was to fight Aldo [in July] and coach against Chad [on TUF]. I just demolished Chad. I said, ‘What’s the point?’ Put me on the [fall] Dublin card against Urijah. That’s my card. I’d get a keep-fresh, get-rich card, then into the Aldo fight. I said I’m not going to do the show … but we worked it out.”

He added: “I had already committed. And when you make a commitment in this game, you follow through. So I followed through on my word, had a conversation with myself. ‘What are you doing this for? Are you going to go half the way or all the way?’ ”

Once he was all in, McGregor coached a European team and said he “slowly warmed to [TUF], it was the experience of a lifetime. Urijah’s an all-right guy, an amusing little man. It went well.”

TUF filming closed with a McGregor face-to-face meeting with Aldo.

“I didn’t think I’d see you again,” McGregor said he told Aldo, adding he patted the champion on the head. “Good to see you. Don’t be scared little man.

“I shook his hand. I cannot scare him anymore. He’s scared to death. I want to cuddle him, tell him it’s going to be OK. Show. Man-up. Let’s fight. It will be over soon. I’ve done all I can do.

“He didn’t show up last time and the numbers still went through the roof. It’s me that they’re showing up for.”

Advertisement

McGregor said that unless he finds reason to fight the winner of the Frankie Edgar-Mendes fight the night before his bout with Aldo, his intention is to move to lightweight.

He’s scheduled to return to Ireland next week and said he’ll return to Las Vegas to conclude training four weeks before a fight night that should eclipse his last one.

“I’m driven for that legacy, to take over the game,” McGregor said. “I don’t know what’s rich enough. … The numbers, the numbers, the numbers. I love the numbers. It’s going to be big. It always is.”

Advertisement