All sides should want same result in Conor McGregor high-stakes poker game

We are all witnessing now the most intriguing game of high-stakes poker in UFC history.But the key is that almost everyone, whether it be the UFC, Conor McGregor, and the fan base, all should want the same conclusion: McGregor vs. Nate Diaz as the UFC 200 main event. If anything, by all three parties being faced with the possibility that the match won’t take place, it’s probably left all wanting it even more.And there are a lot of different angles to it. The short form of the story is that Conor McGregor and UFC had a dispute, either over doing media in the U.S. this week, or one that led to McGregor not agreeing to do planned media this week. This included what Dana White said was the filming of a $1 million television commercial for UFC 200. It is implausible that they could do that commercial without McGregor, the biggest draw on UFC’s planned biggest event in history.

Even after McGregor made it clear publicly he was not retired and wanting the fight, the UFC hasn’t wavered in its position that the fight is off. There is almost surely more to the story than is out. So it’s hard to fully know why the UFC seems steadfast in its decision not to do the fight when it has yet to announce a new one.

McGregor has been able to use his status as UFC’s goose that lays the golden eggs to get what he wants. Perhaps only one other fighter would have been able to delay a press conference by 40 minutes, like McGregor did before the first Nate Diaz fight, without any repercussions. The reality in sports and entertainment is that there is a double standard for those that drive revenue. But at some point, by continuing to push his weight around, it was inevitable there would be a push back from UFC.So that came this week, and the game was on. McGregor and his camp played the retirement card as a first strike. It made the dispute public and teased he was willing to walk out of the fight, and the rest of his career, if he didn’t get what he wanted.The UFC and White then pulled McGregor from the show hours later. It was an even more public sign that they are willing and able to run UFC 200 without him. They also painted the picture that the fight was over something that the public would see as petty. But both sides have been careful about how they portrayed the other, so it was clear from the start nobody was looking at burning any bridges. But, as per the retirement threat, while White made it clear he was skeptical of it, he also said that if McGregor is retiring, they have to strip him of the featherweight title. And they’ve already got a match in place to take care of that. On Thursday, McGregor’s response was a clear attempt to get back on the show, …

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