UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor wants to be the Floyd Mayweather Jr. of UFC, at least financially. He is set to headline UFC 197 in March against Rafael dos Anjos, which is notable because dos Anjos is the UFC lightweight champion.
McGregor thinks he can exceed Mayweather’s financial accomplishments, and the way he’s going, he’s accomplishing it by fighting the best opponents he can, which Mayweather has long been criticized for avoiding.
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“I am going to be making the kind of money Mayweather wasn't making when he was 27. I am changing the rules. There are not that many in UFC who are millionaires, maybe less than ten, I am going for multi-multi-millions,” McGregor told GQ. By fighting dos Anjos, he also has a chance to be the first UFC champion in more than one division simultaneously. Mayweather accomplished that in boxing, but the UFC titles mean more, because there is only one per weight class.
To win the UFC lightweight title, McGregor can’t target an opponent better suited to his style. He has to go through one man, dos Anjos, who is ranked No. 6 in the UFC pound-for-pound rankings. Right now McGregor is using Mayweather-esque brashness to force himself into the casual fan’s consciousness, while bravely testing himself inside the octagon, and succeeding wildly.
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As he rose McGregor was dismissed as a loudmouth who talked his way into big fights. Then he knocked out Chad Mendes, whose wrestling was expected to trouble McGregor. As interim champ, he was expected by many to wilt against Jose Aldo, who had gone 10 years without losing a fight.
Now, he’s up against a man who is 10-1 since 2012, fights 10 pounds above where McGregor has topped out, and has convincingly toppled four straight Top 5 contenders in his division. If he can beat dos Anjos, McGregor will cement himself as the UFC’s most important commodity.
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