AS CONOR McGREGOR’S supporters streamed out of the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas after UFC 189, it was difficult to envisage how any other mixed martial arts personality could be having a more substantial worldwide impact than the newly-crowned UFC interim featherweight champion.
Five thousand miles separate Vegas and McGregor’s hometown of Dublin, yet the majority of the 16,000-plus fans who witnessed him defeat Chad Mendes in the flesh were Irish; albeit a significant proportion — J1 students, for example — were already in the US.
Nevertheless, it was almost impossible to avoid McGregor in the build-up to, and aftermath of, what was one of the biggest events in MMA history. The 27-year-old Dubliner transcends the sport and has single-handedly dragged it into the public consciousness in his own country.
And therein lies the primary reason for the belief that McGregor is MMA’s biggest star. McGregormania is global but Ireland is its nucleus. When you’re positioned in such a bubble, it’s not easy to take a step back and analyse a situation from a reasonable distance. We were guilty of doing the same after his 11 July win.
But if we were searching for proof that there was someone in the MMA world who McGregor has yet to overtake, the wait only lasted three weeks. Headlined by the women’s bantamweight title bout between Bethe Correia and undefeated champion Ronda Rousey, UFC 190 took place last Saturday night in Rio de Janeiro.
In a discussion about who MMA’s biggest stars are today, there are two main protagonists. It’s undisputed. And while McGregor may be the king, the reaction to Rousey’s latest win shows that it’s the queen who’s still in power.
What defines an MMA star is something which is open to individual interpretation. Being a star doesn’t necessarily require you to be the most talented fighter, either pound-for-pound or in your respective division — something Chael Sonnen can attest to.
Of course, having sufficient skills to compete regularly in big fights is an essential component of star quality, but that also has to be accompanied by an ability to garner the interest of the public when you’re not in the octagon.
Essentially, it boils down to the extent to which you can convince the audience to watch your fights, read your interviews and part with their cash. McGregor has that in abundance. Rousey, however, is still out in front. And in spite of McGregor’s rapid rise, some of the figures which have emerged in recent days suggest that the gap between the pair may even be increasing for now.
McGregor and UFC 189 came up 0.003% short of setting a new traffic record for leading website MMAjunkie.com, the mixed martial arts arm of USA TODAY. Rousey and UFC 190 smashed it by 76.8%. The previous record was set by UFC 184 back in February. No prizes for guessing who featured in the main event that night.
“We have a steadily growing number of unique users who come to MMAjunkie each month,” Dann Stupp, MMAjunkie’s co-founder and editor-in-chief, told The42.
“However, the day after UFC 190, we got our usual monthly total of unique users in just one 24-hour period. That means Rousey was pulling in both MMA and non-MMA fans in droves for UFC 190.
“I’ve covered MMA for about a decade now, and Rousey and McGregor are as popular and ‘clicky’ as any fighter I’ve covered during that time. Chuck Liddell, BJ Penn, Anderson Silva, Georges St Pierre, Brock Lesnar and others all had their time, but other than perhaps Liddell, no one has pulled in non-MMA fans like Rousey and McGregor do.
“I think part of it is that they have more exposure through social media and savvier PR/marketing folks than fighters had just a few years ago. But again, they’re rare personalities.
“Liddell was a badass with a fun fighting style, but he couldn’t do what Rousey and McGregor do on the mic or in interviews. And that’s the key to getting someone to tune in to an MMA event for the first time.”
McGregor seems to be doing everything right in terms of promotion, so what’s been the key to Rousey staying a step ahead? Her status as an Olympic medallist and — since last year — an actress has been a major factor. Being the sport’s most dominant athlete hasn’t hurt either.
Stupp said: “Right now, I think Rousey is better situated for mainstream exposure thanks to the Olympic credentials, her thoroughly dominant skills, her acting roles and the fact that women’s MMA is still relatively new and peculiar to general sports fans here in the US. If he keeps winning, I think McGregor could have the same effect.
“Rousey, though, has a few more headlining gigs, and those pay-per-view fights are what really get the mainstream outlets looking at MMA. Like McGregor, Rousey talks a good game and gives a good interview. I think those things are key to gaining such popularity. McGregor just needs a few more opportunities to headline big PPV cards.”
The UFC reported a figure of one million PPV buys for UFC 189, but UFC president Dana White told Ariel Helwani on FOX Sports on Saturday night that UFC 190 looked set to exceed that number.
Rousey’s promotional nous is often under-estimated. She generated enormous interest in a contest against an inferior opponent by reacting to Bethe Correia’s pre-fight taunts. In the post-event press conference, the champion immediately turned her attentions to selling her next bout — against Miesha Tate, a fighter she has already disposed of twice before.
“I think one advantage I do have against a lot of my opponents is they don’t really know what they’re getting into when they come in there,” Rousey said. “They can watch as much footage as they want, but they don’t know what it’s actually like to be in there with me.
“That’s why I think Miesha’s one of my greatest challenges because she already has an idea of what she’s getting in there with. I know I’ve improved a lot since the last time we fought but I don’t have that element of surprise. And I know she’ll bring in something different every single time, so I’m eager to see what she comes up with this time.”
As for Rousey’s duel with McGregor for superstar superiority, the US market is the most vital and there she reigns supreme. McGregor has become a big name west of the Atlantic, no doubt about it, but despite his association with the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger, his reach hasn’t extended quite as far into the American mainstream as Rousey’s.
Rousey was the main social media talking point on Saturday for Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Aaron Rodgers and a host of other big-name celebrities. Even Rex Ryan, head coach of NFL side Buffalo Bills, brought Rousey up in a press conference this week.
MMA has never experienced being a hot topic like that before. Ever. Both Rousey and McGregor have been responsible; the impact has just been more widespread in the case of the former Olympian.
“USA TODAY owns MMAjunkie so a lot of our MMA coverage ends up in the newspaper and on USATODAY.com,” Stupp explained. “Since USA TODAY really tries to cater to a general sports audience, they want needle-movers, and Rousey and McGregor — and guys like Jon Jones, Anderson Silva, Brock Lesnar and even ‘CM Punk’ — move the needle better than anyone.
“In other words, those are the guys who are proven to appeal to a general sports fan who may not really watch MMA much.
“MMA will never be as big as the NFL or other major sports in the US, and a number one versus number two fight isn’t guaranteed to strike a chord just because they’re the best two fighters in a division. It takes big personalities. Right now, Rousey and McGregor are as big as they get.”
One wonders how long such a level of interest in Ronda Rousey can sustain itself while she faces little, if any, threat to her UFC title. It’s widely accepted that Cris ‘Cyborg’ Justino is Rousey’s most likely conqueror, but the Brazilian featherweight has never cut down to the 135lbs division before so there’s no guarantee that the contest will ever take place.
In Dann Stupp’s estimation, however, for the time being at least, Rousey isn’t counting on that eagerly-anticipated fight to keep her at the top.
He said: “Honestly, I think this will be the case for her next few fights, regardless of whom she fights. Rousey is still new to a lot of fans and they’re going to tune in, regardless of which fighters she’s matched up against. She could be a 1/15 or 1/20 favourite for her next few fights and I think general sports fans are still going to be interested.
“Eventually, if she keeps those fans and maintains the interest from the mainstream media, they’re going to want to see a legitimate challenger like ‘Cyborg’. But for better or worse, I think we’re still a year or so away from that.
“So I don’t think the UFC is risking much if they keep booking squash matches for the immediate future. Part of Rousey’s appeal, at least to the general sports fan, is that dominance. It can be the selling point for at least a few more fights.”
Pointing out that Conor McGregor is currently behind Rousey in the pecking order of stars is in no way a criticism of ‘The Notorious’. In fact, in many respects he’s been even more of a phenomenon thus far, having gone from being an unknown debutant to a pay-per-view headliner in the space of just two years.
Nobody has managed to topple him yet in the octagon, but displacing Ronda Rousey as MMA’s number one superstar may ultimately represent his biggest UFC challenge.
