– Niall Kelly reports from Boston
HE HAS GONE from social welfare to superstar in the space of two years and on Sunday night in Boston, Conor McGregor hopes to take the final step on the road to a UFC title shot.
Featherweight champion Jose Aldo will be sitting Octagon-side in TD Garden to see if McGregor can take care of business against the experienced veteran Dennis Siver. If he does, all that’s left is to decide a venue for a mouthwatering showdown between the two in early summer.
The Notorious’ exciting style, snappy dress sense and fast mouth have elevated him to a level where UFC president Dana White described him this week as “the most marketable fighter of all time,” and where a stadium show in Croke Park is being considered as a very realistic possibility.
He’s adored among MMA fans in Ireland — around 2,000 are estimated to have travelled out to Boston to support him, Cathal Pendred, Paddy Holohan and Norman Parke this week — and he’s winning over the American crowd too.
“The US audience, for the most part, loves him,” leading MMA journalist Ariel Helwani told The42.
“There’s a portion of the audience that feels like he’s getting a little too much a little too soon but those sentiments are going away.
“They’re very much enjoying what he’s bringing to the table, they’re very much enjoying the breath of fresh air that he is, and they’re enjoying the ride because it’s fun to see stars emerge. I think he’s going to be received very well on Sunday.”
Seeing fans travel in their thousands to support a fighter is not the norm in the UFC, Helwani added.
“You always gravitate towards those people as a fan because those are the ones who make you emotionally invested, they rile you up, they start getting under their opponents’ skin. The fans will give the fighter what the fighter gives them and because he has so much passion, look around us, you have people travelling. This doesn’t happen very often for UFC events. It’s a very special thing.”
McGregor laid down the mission statement when the UFC returned to Dublin in July of last year, the promotion’s first visit since 2009.
Coming back from an 11-month injury layoff with ruptured cruciate ligaments, he KOd Diego Brandao in the first round in a sold-out O2.
It completed a historic night for Irish MMA with all four of John Kavanagh’s SBG fighters winning as well as Parke and Team Ryano’s Neil Seery.
“We’re not here to take part — we’re here to take over,” McGregor declared, and the strong Irish flavour to Sunday’s bill shows that it was no idle promise.
“The other Irish aren’t as popular as he is,” Helwani said, “and I do think he’s blazing a trail for them, but especially in Dublin they were a very important part of the story. They set the tone.
“I spoke to Paddy about this and he enjoys being the first man, he sets the tone and gets everyone riled up and then Conor closes the show. In between, you’ve got Cathal and the others.
“This event would be special with Conor but I think it’s even more special to have them involved as well.”
Joseph Duffy and Paul Redmond took the number of Irish fighters on the roster to eight but Helwani says there’s nothing manufactured about the UFC’s explosion.
“All these guys who are in the UFC are here on merit. I don’t the UFC is throwing out any lifejackets, it doesn’t work that way for the most part. If you look at the Irish guys who have come into the UFC, they all have great resumes and they’ve all done pretty well thus far. They’ve all hung in there.
“In my opinion, I think this has been one of the best stories in the UFC in the last two years, one of the most refreshing. There’s nothing negative.
“Dublin reminded me why I love this sport so much, why it means so much to so many people, why you can get lost and intoxicated by the moment. It reminded me why I love it all. It reminded me why I love sports, period.
“They have this joie de vivre, the fighters like Cathal and Paddy and Conor, they have this demeanour about them that you can’t help but feel invested in what their journey is and in what they’re doing out there.
“There are always going to be doubters and there are always going to be haters but I think all of them are here and deserve to be here.
“In what other sport can you talk about these kids going to an event [UFC 93], feeling so impressed by the moment, with big eyes saying that I’m going to be there as well, and then succeeding on that very stage.
“It shows the power of sport and the power of UFC. It really is one of the best stories.”
