Conor McGregor And Dana White’s Relationship Seems to be Totally Patched Up After The UFC President Gushed About The Irishman’s Qualities Inside And Outside The Octagon…
Remember back to April when UFC President Dana White said that Conor McGregor’s actions at UFC 226 were the most disgusting behavior in the history of the company. At least back then he was pretending to care about it. Now, he’s totally back on board the McGregor hype train.
McGregor and White have clashed in the past. This isn’t really that surprising. The Irishman’s stock rose drastically with every appearance he made for the UFC until he reached superstar level. However, unusually, despite McGregor openly resisting the promotion’s demands, he’s stopped short of actually insulting and cursing out the Notorious.
This is because he’s just worth so much money to the company. McGregor is their one and only true superstar. Sure, Brock Lesnar is coming back but he’s a shadow of his former self. George St. Pierre’s legacy is magnificent, but McGregor has achieved more mainstream recognition than any other fighter to date. Dana had a lot to say…
‘My Star’
In an interview with Fox News, White absolutely gushed about McGregor’s qualities and the potential that he saw in him when the Irishman was fighting on the European circuit. He said:
“He’s my Ali. He’s my Tyson. He burst onto the scene and I knew the minute I sat down and had dinner with him that this kid was going to be a star. I didn’t know if he’d be able to fight and I didn’t know if he’d be able to win a title, but I knew he was going to be a star.”
To be fair, one of the UFC’s great successes was that they allowed McGregor to dictate his own pace and capitalize on the momentum behind his rise. Of course, the fanatical Irish fanbase was something else that McGregor had that nobody had seen before.
Not the First Time
This isn’t the first time that White has made this comparison to Muhammad Ali. Way back in 2015, he had similar words to say about the Irishman and his incredible charisma. He said:
”To compare anybody to Ali is kind of stupid because of all the other great things that were associated with him from a social movement and everything else. But Conor has just got that sparkle, that thing to him.
Wherever he goes – whether we put him on TV, whether he’s doing an interview, whether he’s around a group of people – he just is the center of attention. He’s got that special quality, and for a guy that’s fought in the UFC four times to have the interest of GQ Magazine, Men’s Health, ESPN? He’s got it.”
Scintillating
This is one of the most fascinating aspects of McGregor’s fight against Khabib Nurmagamedov. His media presence and the attention that comes with it is a psychological dynamic that fighters just can’t prepare for it. We’ve seen Dennis Siver, Dustin Poirier, Jose Aldo, and Eddie Alvarez affected by it in the past.
So far Nate Diaz has been the most immune to the McGregor’s onslaught. Will Khabib be able to cope? His rock solid exterior suggests that words will just bounce off him, and the fact that they’re not doing a world tour is another bonus for the Russian. Time will tell…
