connor leaving the UFC??

Will Conor McGregor Follow The Mayweather Model?
By Chris Connor · On December 16, 2015
On Saturday night at UFC 194, the most significant hit landed may not have been the straight left from Conor McGregor that floored Jose Aldo, but the one from Ultimate Fighting Championship co-owner and Zuffa executive Frank Fertitta, who slammed down the UFC Featherweight title belt in anger just after Aldo hit the deck.

It’s no secret that the love-fest between top draw Conor McGregor and the UFC has become frosty. In fact, when one takes into consideration that the UFC is a powerful business accustomed to calling the shots and getting what it wants, and that McGregor is a man driven to succeed in everything he does, a falling out was pretty much inevitable.

One big left hand
With a single punch, McGregor may now be bigger than the UFC.
Since Conor joined the UFC back in April of 2013, his mission has always been to win as many titles and make as much money as he could. His skills have allowed him to silence all the doubters and his personality has made him a crossover star, not only in Ireland but also in the United States. All the while the Zuffa brass rode the Conor Bandwagon straight to the bank as his fights generated huge money, no matter if they were on Fox Sports 1 or pay-per-view. But as in every marriage, there comes a time when both parties have to make sure their needs are being met. And, simply put, Conor’s have not.

Multiple sources state Conor was not happy with being forced to coach the latest version of The Ultimate Fighter program, especially when being part of that show took away from time needed to train for Jose Aldo. And then there’s the fact McGregor feels underpaid. As one fighter stated: “Conor is starting to realize that they (UFC) have no intention of paying him the money he wants.”

Frank
Frank Fertitta
The UFC model has always been that the brand is bigger than any one fighter. No matter whether it is Randy Couture, George St. Pierre, Brock Lesnar or Ronda Rousey, the Ultimate Fighting Championship is the star and the fighters come second. But Conor McGregor might be the one guy who will force them to change that. And the word on the street is he’s talking to another guy who is one of the few men alive who could really ruin all of Zuffa’s future plans.

According to reports, Conor McGregor has been in contact with Al Haymon and already people are speculating about the outcome. Before we kill the rumor or give it credibility, let’s remember that the one thing the UFC has always wanted to prevent is any one fighter being bigger and more popular than the UFC brand, and thus becoming the MMA version of Floyd Mayweather.

“Dana and the Fertitta’s have seen first hand what happens when fighters get lots of power,” one manager stated to me. “They don’t want to deal with a fighter who can leave them and make more money on his own. It would change everything.”

Haymon: in the shadows.
Al Haymon: one of the few men who could upset the UFC’s plans.
When Floyd Mayweather years ago found himself in the same position McGregor is in now, he reached out and brought Al Haymon into the fold. A decade later, Floyd was the owner of his own company and made more money in one fight than most pro football players make in their entire careers.

What Haymon brings to the table is a bevy of networks who are not aligned with the UFC but would be most willing to get into the PPV business with Conor. NBC, CBS, ABC/ESPN and even SPIKE would all jump at the chance to get a bonafide sports and crossover star on their networks. More importantly, all those networks have the platform to sell Conor and provide him with the producers and marketers who know how to make this happen.

While MMA fans keep saying the UFC is the biggest and greatest show in the world, they fail to miss the big point. Stars sell, and Conor McGregor is now as big a star as exists in combat sports. He can use his stardom and the clout that comes with it to make the fights that generate interest for the casual fan. Meanwhile, Haymon is perfecctly positioned to make the boxing model work for McGregor. For example, Haymon could have Bellator be the “promoter of record” and do all the leg work while Conor trains, sells the event and develops his own team.


McGregor: a crossover star with plenty of ‘options’
Meanwhile, Haymon gets a huge star fighter who everyone knows about. While his stable of athletes and his war chest are second to none in boxing, Haymon has not developed or signed on that bigger-than-life champion to be the face of Premier Boxing Champions. But if Haymon wants to get into the MMA market, what better way than with the biggest star in the sport to date?

For now this is all speculation, and most people say that, while they did talk, nothing “substantial” came out of the meetings. But the fact Conor and the UFC are circling wagons, that Conor has stated he wants “Mayweather money,” and that he and Haymon may have had talks — these are clear signs that all is not well in Zuffa Land.

All I know is this: if Conor McGregor and Al Haymon do go into business together, you can bet that the UFC brass will see this as a nuclear threat. And rightfully so. — Chris Connor

http://www.thefightcity.com/will-conor-mcgregor-follow-the-mayweather-model-jose-aldo-frank-fertitta-al-haymon-ufc-mma-floyd-mayweather/ Phone Post 3.0

Meh.


I mean it's a nice fiction story that has some logic to it, but that's all it is; a story.

Could a little or a lot of this be true? Of course, no one really knows what goes on behind the scenes. But this whole article is rife with "sources have stated" and "word on the street" and "he could" or "they could" and "what if".

There's literally almost zero factual content in the entire article.

Quote :

It’s no secret that the love-fest between top draw Conor McGregor and the UFC has become frosty.

Uhhh......really?! Since when?? This is a bigger love-fest than UFC/Rousey! If there is some obvious feud, I'm apparently a complete moron who knows nothing about the UFC, because this is the first I've heard about a "frosty relationship" between them.


On top of that, while the name of the site is "TheFightCity", one glance at the page leaves no doubt that this site is a boxing site. And given that it's well known that boxing pundits and big-wigs despise MMA in general and the UFC in particular, it's no surpise that they would take this opportunity to invent this grand power-struggle between the UFC and McGregor to make it look like there's trouble in paradise.
Connor McGregor is boxing's worst nightmare, because he's MMA's answer to the great boxing superstars- past and present- that MMA has never truly had, with all due respect to GSP, Silva, Rousey, and Lesnar. The boxing community would love nothing more than to see these two sides tear each other to pieces, and that's clearly the picture this writer is trying to paint.




Reading this made me feel icky.....

Before we put the cart in front of the horse, let's first understand that Connor (although a big name in the MMA world) is not nearly the "Star" or household name as Mayweather.

He's not even near the same category as Brock Lesnar, Rhonda Rousey, or Chuck Liddell for that matter. Not even close.

Certainly not saying he can't get there some day, but a little premature to think he's going to ink a $100 Million deal anytime soon.

stock wrote:

Before we put the cart in front of the horse, let's first understand that Connor (although a big name in the MMA world) is not nearly the "Star" or household name as Mayweather.

He's not even near the same category as Brock Lesnar, Rhonda Rousey, or Chuck Liddell for that matter.  Not even close.

Certainly not saying he can't get there some day, but a little premature to think he's going to ink a $100 Million deal anytime soon.

He's trending in the direction of being the biggest ever. Not solely because of talent, but the guy's an absolute PR machine. That's really what I was getting at.
But regardless of that, this article should be taken with several heaping spoonfuls of salt, that's for sure.

Speculation by a writer looking to make up some controversy to sell his written vomit.

I don't believe for Connor its just the money, its the idea of being on the top of the heap of the largest MMA organization in the world. Haters can poo poo that all they want, but Connor likes being King of the Hill while rolling in all the dough and everyone in the fight world who means anything, including fans, say "Ohhhhh look at King Connor" He's not going to give that up to become some sort of "paper champ" never really fighting for the King of the Hill spot, no matter how much money he gets.