All throughout UFC 246 fight week, [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag] appeared to appreciate the high stakes going into his Saturday night fight with Donald Cerrone.
The former UFC two-division champion was one false move away from becoming the latest fight-game cliché of the star who could do no wrong as he rocketed to the top, only to squander it all once he got there.
McGregor became the biggest star in mixed martial arts history in winning the UFC featherweight and lightweight title during an 11-month span in 2015 and 2016, then improbably parlayed his fame into a massive payday to box superstar Floyd Mayweather.
But McGregor was three years removed from his last victory – of any kind – when he arrived in Las Vegas for the Cerrone fight with a lot of baggage in tow: From an attack on rival Khabib Nurmagomedov, which led to a legal case, to an incident in which he punched an older man in a bar back in Ireland, to reported ongoing investigations by Irish authorities into two alleged sexual assaults (which could still sink him yet), McGregor had done much to tarnish his legacy.
Last time around in Sin City, McGregor appeared more concerned with selling his Proper Twelve whiskey brand than fighting Nurmagomedov, as he got mauled by the current UFC lightweight champion before an ugly post-fight brawl broke out.
McGregor’s mission this week was crystal clear. He had to show the world he still has his head in the game. He had to show he still respected both the business and the people who purchased everything from tickets to pay-per-views to whiskey to T-shirts and enabled him to become a multi-millionaire.
McGregor needed to conduct himself like a gentleman outside the cage, and then go into the octagon and display the same ferocity and drive he showed during his breathtaking run up to double-champion status.
Mission accomplished.
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After a week in which McGregor showed up for press conferences on time, complimented his opponent early and often, and repeatedly said he was focused and happy to be back doing what he loved, “The Notorious” put truth to his words with a vintage performance at T-Mobile Arena.
McGregor steamrolled Cerrone with a series of shoulder shivers, a perfectly placed head kick to the jaw, and a swarm of punches. The time of the TKO stoppage was 40 seconds, much to the approval of a delirious pro-McGregor crowd.
Make no mistake: McGregor didn’t just need a win here. He needed to make a statement.
A lackluster victory would have ramped up talk of McGregor’s best days being behind him. A loss would have been disastrous for his drawing power.
Instead, McGregor looked like the fighter he used to be, with sharp striking and a shark’s sense for blood. Not only is McGregor back, but the suits above UFC president Dana White in Endeavor’s C-suite, who aren’t fight fans and only know the UFC as their cash cow, can breathe a sigh of relief knowing they can count on riding the McGregor gravy train for the foreseeable future.
If McGregor can keep his head on straight, that is.
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We don’t know what will come of the sexual assault investigations. However that pans out, McGregor needs to continue to stay out of trouble. Undoubtedly some of the old swagger that made him a transcendent star will return, and that’s fine. But he needs to continue showing he’s all business when it counts.
“My coach (John Kavanagh) always said the worst nightmare for a coach, I achieved it all. The worst nightmare for coach is a student that achieves it all – the money, the fame, the belts, all that,” McGregor said at the post-fight news conference. “What then to motivate me? I had to go through that and then just come back for the love like I got into it in the first place.
“For the love.”
McGregor certainly looked like someone who loves what he does in rolling over Cerrone, and now it all comes down to finding the intersection of which path McGregor wants to take, and the one that will make the UFC the most money.
White hinted strongly that he wants McGregor to rematch Nurmagomedov. Jorge Masvidal seemed to nudge Nate Diaz out of the “fun fight” picture with his “BMF” win at UFC 244, But McGregor, who was otherwise non-committal on potential next foes, got excited when asked at the press conference about the prospect of a trilogy fight with Diaz.
Mayweather, meanwhile started dropping hints at a rematch over social media as soon as McGregor won. And while you might hate hearing this, if they can sucker half as many people into buying a rematch as they did the first one, then the finances of it would work for all involved.
The point is, McGregor has options again. McGregor can call his shots. McGregor is still the biggest deal in the sport. And if he doesn’t let it all get to his head again, he’ll stay that way for a long time to come.
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