Conor McGregor is being nice... what is going on here?
You don't have to know a great deal about MMA or fighting sports in general to know who Conor McGregor is. He was and is a tremendous fighter but I don't this I am alone is saying that this is not necessarily the reason why he is a household name. Demetrius Johnson is an amazing fighter with a more impressive win / loss record, yet nobody really knows who he is. Why is that?
It's because Conor McGregor has a mouth on him and he has used insults and extremely clever microphone tactics to work the spotlight onto himself and to also become, by a long-shot, the highest paid MMA fighter of all time even though he has a less-than-impressive record in recent years.
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I am one of the people that kind of got tired of his mouth and was for the most part, rooting for anyone he faced in the octagon. I was thrilled when he lost to Diaz and Khabib and really wish they had let the Mayweather fight go a bit longer than they did so Conor could have taken some real damage. I had grown tired of his constant verbal attacks on everyone, everywhere and it was clear I was not alone in this when one day, when hosting an early morning broadcast of the first Diaz fight when the crowd cheered at his defeat, including the Irish people in attendance.
Therefore, the following tweets were quite a surprise to me.
When Conor faced Jose Aldo, years ago, "Notorious" was absolutely relentless in his bullying attacks on who was then the undisputed featherweight champion of the UFC and hadn't suffered a loss in 10 years. Conor's tactics got into Jose's head for sure and we all remember how that fight turned out.
Here he is being nice and actually defending a man that he attacked on social media every single day for 5 or 6 months. It is very non-Conor-ey behavior.
Conor returns to the UFC this January and perhaps he is having a go at making his return like a grown-up. I don't know for sure but this certainly doesn't seem like the person that we all remember. He faces "Cowboy" Cerrone on Jan 18th. Has he turned over a new leaf? I wouldn't count on it. I would be willing to bet that the $110 million he has accrued in the past 5 years perhaps have chilled him out a bit.
If this is all a ruse I have to say that his cerebral tactics are already working on at least one person (me.) After seeing him act like a normal human being I actually don't want Cowboy to destroy him.
Who do you choose in this match-up?
Great to see an MMA article, thanks gooddream. I think that the trash talk serves s a purpose, and I feel that the purpose has been met for him. He doesn't need to use his mouth to get attention anymore, people know who he is now. But I think once he's back in the environment, we could see him return to it in the same way that Chael Sonnen always tries to add a personal dimension to the fight. I think Cowboy has a good chance in this fight. I think that ring rust always plays a role, Cerone has been a little more active and will win via decision.
Cowboy fights all the time. I seems as though he is more involved than most fighters. It should be a good payday for Cerone... I've always liked that guy as he normally isn't boring to watch and seems like a pretty decent human.
Microphone tactics??
What do you mean?
I love it when someone with a big mouth gets thumped. Never been a fan of his and lump him with the likes of Naseem Hamed and Chisorra. Anything to be in the spotlight for these guys and they don't care how they do it.Sportstalk is the tag. Change it so i can give you some sports.
I didn't realize he was coming back. I thought he was in some legal trouble or something like that and was pretty much done. I am willing to try his whiskey sometime if I can get my hands on a bottle of it :) I'd be interesting in watching his comeback fight. Most people probably just liked the accent. I haven't met an American that wasn't a sucker for a good accent.
It could be a sign of growing up - But that's something we will see on his behavior in the next months/years. I think he kind of lost his mental ability by his crazy fast raising in the UFC. He went from literally no one to an absolute superstar in the sports world (And even outside of it) in just a couple of years. Still, I do like him as a fighter very much and I respect the efforts he puts into it. I'm really excited for the fight against Cowboy in January. (Also extremely excited on the Usman - Colby fight next week, my bets are placed :D )
Come on, I know you want to say it; he's being nice because he knows life's going to get harder. He's slowing down and time is taking its inevitable toll. I hate that he's not loud mouthed though, that was my favourite part of him
You forgot to mention he's famous for featuring in Creed and has taken pictures with Cristiano Ronaldo.
If I had his skillset, I'd be a worse menace to society than these crooked ass politicians
I would probably flip a coin. ;)