Conor is Wrong (and I like Conor)

[Rabid_Bunyip]

Shy Guy -

Regardless of the advantage, you have to promote the fight. He is the face of the organization and the highest paid fighter. Like it or not, but that's the obligation of a prize fighter. The fight is 3 months away. It's not like this is in the middle of his training camp. I usually take the fighter's side in cases where Zuffa makes a power move but I think the UFC is right in this case. You can't just show up to fight, especially when your name is Conor McGregor.

How is he the highest paid fighter? How is his "name" suddenly a requirement to promote like a mad man?

By promoting like a mad man since day one that's how.

Nick and Nate get plaudits from shunning promotion and just wanting to train and fight. "what!? Fuck your beauty pageant! Get that camera out of my face!"

Yet now, after building who he is and his opponents identity by doing the press, the interviews, the rants, the bravado and embracing the limelight a fighter says ok I just wanna train, let the others put in some promotional effort ...he is demonised?

UFC had a dancing monkey with everybody marching to the beat of his wind up cymbals.

They made shit loads of it

Now he wants to actually dedicate himself to training and fighting, it's HIS fault that they might not sell as many PPVs?

Well guess what. Goodbye to huge PPVs buys for 200 without him. He did the circus and was the fucking ringmaster.

He lost and got fucking serious...

"oh fuck that guy, he's not a dancing monkey anymore"

I'd pay to watch the fight without any press or clever ads

I'm a fight fan, not a hype fan

Come on EVERYBODY OTHER THAN CONOR.

Sell UFC 200

[Rabid_Bunyip]

Let me guess.

You can't

[Blunted_Ninja]

dermotfix - He can promote the show without the ridiculous roadshow that Dana has planned. And if he says he needs a break from it, why do we think he's full of it?
But please, stop spinning this as him looking for an advantage. That's just pathetic.

This. Look what's he's done for the company so far. You'd think the company you're generating so much revenue for would move some things around so you could focus on what got you to the show so you won't get your ass kicked again.

[Hunter_V]

luctaro - 

Hunter V - 

Shy Guy - 

Regardless of the advantage, you have to promote the fight. He is the face of the organization and the highest paid fighter. Like it or not, but that's the obligation of a prize fighter. The fight is 3 months away. It's not like this is in the middle of his training camp. I usually take the fighter's side in cases where Zuffa makes a power move but I think the UFC is right in this case. You can't just show up to fight, especially when your name is Conor McGregor.

Actually he is in camp now, that's part of the issue.

And this is not surprising as GSP, Nick Diaz, and others have bitched about how the UFC makes the media obligations such a priority to where it disrupts how they train. Conor is just being stubborn about it so people are paying attention again. If anything it highlights that for the UFC there has to be a better balance. I am pro Conor here as no matter what, the company goes and stays profitable. Fighters however have to do what they have to in order to fight at max and the company is always looking for a reason to cut you. Gotta look out for #1.

Is it really that hard to be flown in a private jet with all your teamates and your gear for a 1-2 day event?

That Press Conference is for the opening of tickets sales. Its literally to promote the tickets for the event. Plus he has the promos of the event to shoot. And he can't disrupt his Iceland getaway for 2 days for any of it really?

Is that what's going to prevent him from getting slapped and surrendering AGAIN to Nate Diaz?

Maybe he is right to demand less press work. Maybe he isn't. I don't know. But this one wasn't the one to miss.

Have you ever been around fighters in camps where they get ultra serious? For some they get anal as hell on EVERYTHING as they are emotionally high strung at that point. So any disruption is a negative. Add in the fact that this isn't some mid tier guy, this is Conor we are talking about in terms of media relations. 1-2 days of him doing this does not equate to 2-3hrs of press so he can train. The guy would be doing 10-12hrs worth of media crap daily. Its something Ronda had to do, GSP, and other top tier people and that can be draining. So it makes sense when he says let other people go do the media rounds, they won't be in as high demand as him. Again, this is a gripe that we have seen countless top guys complain about over the years, it just seems like McGregor will be the first to put his money where his mouth is in terms of dealing with it.

[Humphrey]

what cracks me up is he threw a tantrum and made a tweet that he retired, IMMEDIATELY took it down, then tried to play it off like it was a plan.

he's not that smart

[Humphrey]

Hunter V - 

luctaro - 

Hunter V - 

Shy Guy - 

Regardless of the advantage, you have to promote the fight. He is the face of the organization and the highest paid fighter. Like it or not, but that's the obligation of a prize fighter. The fight is 3 months away. It's not like this is in the middle of his training camp. I usually take the fighter's side in cases where Zuffa makes a power move but I think the UFC is right in this case. You can't just show up to fight, especially when your name is Conor McGregor.

Actually he is in camp now, that's part of the issue.

And this is not surprising as GSP, Nick Diaz, and others have bitched about how the UFC makes the media obligations such a priority to where it disrupts how they train. Conor is just being stubborn about it so people are paying attention again. If anything it highlights that for the UFC there has to be a better balance. I am pro Conor here as no matter what, the company goes and stays profitable. Fighters however have to do what they have to in order to fight at max and the company is always looking for a reason to cut you. Gotta look out for #1.

Is it really that hard to be flown in a private jet with all your teamates and your gear for a 1-2 day event?

That Press Conference is for the opening of tickets sales. Its literally to promote the tickets for the event. Plus he has the promos of the event to shoot. And he can't disrupt his Iceland getaway for 2 days for any of it really?

Is that what's going to prevent him from getting slapped and surrendering AGAIN to Nate Diaz?

Maybe he is right to demand less press work. Maybe he isn't. I don't know. But this one wasn't the one to miss.

Have you ever been around fighters in camps where they get ultra serious? For some they get anal as hell on EVERYTHING as they are emotionally high strung at that point. So any disruption is a negative. Add in the fact that this isn't some mid tier guy, this is Conor we are talking about in terms of media relations. 1-2 days of him doing this does not equate to 2-3hrs of press so he can train. The guy would be doing 10-12hrs worth of media crap daily. Its something Ronda had to do, GSP, and other top tier people and that can be draining. So it makes sense when he says let other people go do the media rounds, they won't be in as high demand as him. Again, this is a gripe that we have seen countless top guys complain about over the years, it just seems like McGregor will be the first to put his money where his mouth is in terms of dealing with it.

wrong, it wasn't a disruption it was a PLANNED event. not abnormal, not his first one, not a surprise

[Animal_Mother]

This is wrong. Nate can drive to Nevada. Connor lives thousands of miles away. I don't even like Connor, but he's 100% right here.

[madfortea]

I think he's actually right and the flyer analogy is perfect. He has done more promotion at a higher intensity than anyone else and got the audience interested enough to carry through to the next few events as long as he can deliver the product which is the fight.

Repeat buying goes on the strength of the product. Endless advertising won't help if you tried the product and it sucks and from what he says the last few years of heavy promotion have detracted from his training which will take away from his fights. His name is out there and people want to see him fight but he has to deliver on that front.

What I dont get about the whole thing is that it seems promoting for the sake of promoting is more important than actually getting the sales which he would get if he was on the card. Just by this fiasco there is a lot more interest than most press conferences generate.

It'd also be cool for the other fighters to have the stage without him there as it gives them a chance to shine instead of just being extras.

[Can_Krusher]

madfortea - I think he's actually right and the flyer analogy is perfect. He has done more promotion at a higher intensity than anyone else and got the audience interested enough to carry through to the next few events as long as he can deliver the product which is the fight.

Repeat buying goes on the strength of the product. Endless advertising won't help if you tried the product and it sucks and from what he says the last few years of heavy promotion have detracted from his training which will take away from his fights. His name is out there and people want to see him fight but he has to deliver on that front.

What I dont get about the whole thing is that it seems promoting for the sake of promoting is more important than actually getting the sales which he would get if he was on the card. Just by this fiasco there is a lot more interest than most press conferences generate.

It'd also be cool for the other fighters to have the stage without him there as it gives them a chance to shine instead of just being extras.

Let me help you out frend.

"Promoting for the sake of promoting" what does this even mean. Promoting is to raise awareness of your product. Your product here is CM. Without CM appearing on press conference, hundreds of media outlets across all media platforms don't get content.

CM is not simply appearing in one presser. He will speaking to multiple 1-on-1 interviews. Do you recall he even appeared on a CNBC Money channel for a 10 minute interview?

UFC is a product that can be good or poor. It's not washing powder. Average sales for PPV is sub 700k. CM delivers double.

UFC Needs CM. CM needs UFC.

[Team_Blackhouse_Fan]

To me this is simple. What does his contract say? Was this obligation mutually agreed upon by the parties in the contract? If not, then I think it is fair he ask it to be rescheduled.

[fightcity]

Rabid Bunyip - 

Shy Guy -

Regardless of the advantage, you have to promote the fight. He is the face of the organization and the highest paid fighter. Like it or not, but that's the obligation of a prize fighter. The fight is 3 months away. It's not like this is in the middle of his training camp. I usually take the fighter's side in cases where Zuffa makes a power move but I think the UFC is right in this case. You can't just show up to fight, especially when your name is Conor McGregor.

How is he the highest paid fighter? How is his "name" suddenly a requirement to promote like a mad man?

By promoting like a mad man since day one that's how.

Nick and Nate get plaudits from shunning promotion and just wanting to train and fight. "what!? Fuck your beauty pageant! Get that camera out of my face!"

Yet now, after building who he is and his opponents identity by doing the press, the interviews, the rants, the bravado and embracing the limelight a fighter says ok I just wanna train, let the others put in some promotional effort ...he is demonised?

UFC had a dancing monkey with everybody marching to the beat of his wind up cymbals.

They made shit loads of it

Now he wants to actually dedicate himself to training and fighting, it's HIS fault that they might not sell as many PPVs?

Well guess what. Goodbye to huge PPVs buys for 200 without him. He did the circus and was the fucking ringmaster.

He lost and got fucking serious...

"oh fuck that guy, he's not a dancing monkey anymore"

I'd pay to watch the fight without any press or clever ads

I'm a fight fan, not a hype fan

Come on EVERYBODY OTHER THAN CONOR.

Sell UFC 200

Agreed he built his brand already people know his name. He has more then met his promotional obligations by making his name into international super stardom. Mention RDA or just about any other champs name and people will say who the fuck is that? he can generate more buzz and promotion with one tweet then most fighters can in their entire carreers.

Its amazing the UFC would even consider pulling the biggest draw in MMA history off of what they want to be their biggest card ever... That smacks of egotism and just plain dumbfuckery...

[madfortea]

Can Krusher - 

madfortea - I think he's actually right and the flyer analogy is perfect. He has done more promotion at a higher intensity than anyone else and got the audience interested enough to carry through to the next few events as long as he can deliver the product which is the fight.

Repeat buying goes on the strength of the product. Endless advertising won't help if you tried the product and it sucks and from what he says the last few years of heavy promotion have detracted from his training which will take away from his fights. His name is out there and people want to see him fight but he has to deliver on that front.

What I dont get about the whole thing is that it seems promoting for the sake of promoting is more important than actually getting the sales which he would get if he was on the card. Just by this fiasco there is a lot more interest than most press conferences generate.

It'd also be cool for the other fighters to have the stage without him there as it gives them a chance to shine instead of just being extras.

Let me help you out frend.

"Promoting for the sake of promoting" what does this even mean. Promoting is to raise awareness of your product. Your product here is CM. Without CM appearing on press conference, hundreds of media outlets across all media platforms don't get content.

CM is not simply appearing in one presser. He will speaking to multiple 1-on-1 interviews. Do you recall he even appeared on a CNBC Money channel for a 10 minute interview?

UFC is a product that can be good or poor. It's not washing powder. Average sales for PPV is sub 700k. CM delivers double.

UFC Needs CM. CM needs UFC.

by promoting for the sake of promoting I mean by all this fiasco he has raised lot of awareness as it stands and he's got on way more media platforms than they could hope for.

Maybe he could turn up to his media duties, take it a lot easier, nap during the presser and give one word answers/say nothing of interest and that would tick the promotional duties box but would that be better than the current interest in the fight.

Whether he intended it this way or not he has created more of a furore by his twitter antics than the UFC have on their current promotional bout for UFC 197. Most journalists are more interested in fighters opinions on this situation with their pending fights taking a backseat.

The UFC want the fully switched on Conor to do the media. But he is stating that a couple of years of non stop full throttle promotion has come to the detriment to his training. He needs to step away from that side and balance up on the skills side.

By product I didnt mean the UFC as a whole but Conor's own specific fights. Conor delivers double not just based on his talk but because he backed it up in the ring. He delivered excitement every time.

Maybe he feels he needs to focus on training to increase his chances in the cage and keeping up the quality. Not just a fight camp but actually training. His fights from here onare no doubt tough ones.

He would get the numbers for UFC200 regardless. He will have more chances of maintaining them and the interest if he fights well.

Yeah they both need each other but UFC care about UFC and CM cares about CM. He has been pretty loyal to UFC in the past and been a good earner for them. He's still willing to fight and will still bring in a crowd. It's not like the numbers will be low if he doesn't do some of the media.

It's a unique situation and probably bits of power play on both sides. I'd watch the fight whether he did the press or not. (I'll watch the card whether hes on it or not).

bit of a ramble blah blah blah. not sure why I care.

[Huey_freman]

I'm going to try and explain this how I see it from Conor's point of view.

The media wants Conor, he has to be on constantly, I don't think you people understand the amount of press he has to do.

Please also understand that the ufc gives zero fucks about Conor, or any other fighter for that matter, they will roll him out and milk the publicity ( which is beneficial to the ufc brand over the Conor brand) and if he loses Conor is fucked and the ufc couldn't give a shit, it's onto the next one for them.

They use these guys until they burn them out, look at rousey she in my opinion is the most mishandled athlete of all time, she was used and probably told to say half the shit she said.

I agree Conor should do some media, the same as any fighter on a big card, they are asking for a mini world tour and then some, it's too much when there's so much riding on it.

I want to see well prepared fighters doing their thing not exhausted and stressed fighters who have spent their time in interviews, it's someone's career we are talking about, this is supposed to be the Super Bowl of Mma and this is arguably one of the biggest fights ever.

[Huey_freman]

Btw anyone doubting the pulling power of Conor only has to look at what one little tweet has generated in terms of publicity.

All this comes down to is that the massive ego's at the ufc are scared that one of their athletes has the power to say NO to them.

And that terrifies them more than anything else in the world.

[BuyTheTicketTakeTheRide]

The irony of having millions of threads and a buzz of media activity, all saying absolute nonsense like this and claiming that Conor should 'promote' this fight, is lost on many it seems.

[colubrid1]

Conor made no secret in all his interviews before and after the Diaz fight that he will not do the same marketing and publicity for his next fight.

He made that quite public and has been for a long time.

[gridlor]

Lots of guys have done things for the promotion and still handled media duties. Some champions have even defended their belts even after doing promotions for the fight. Hard to believe but it has happened. I'm not a huge Nate fan but he came off the couch and finished a guy who had a full camp. Media promotions had nothing to do with it. One extra interview caused him to tap? You wanted the limelight you got it. Take your loss and learn become better. IMHO it's The fans that lose out on this one. .