Fightweets: Has Conor McGregor damaged his brand?

When the previous edition of Fightweets went live, Nate Diaz vs. Conor McGregor was the main event of UFC 200.

A few days later, all hell broke loose, and now McGregor’s on the sidelines, while Daniel Cormier vs. Jon Jones is the new headliner for the July 9 show in Las Vegas.

Time, then, for a look at those developments and a whole lot more.

Conor and the UFC

@Fitdudeyeah: If u had 2 guess, was Conor’s tweet about him being back on 200 a pure negotiating move or was there any truth?

I’ve gotten scores of questions about the whole tiff between McGregor and the UFC, the chain of events which led to Diaz-McGregor 2 getting called off, and the aftermath, so rather than list them all out, I’m going to use this question as the launching point for all things UFC 200Gate.

The tweet you refer to, of course, was the one in which McGregor announced Sunday night that he was back on UFC 200, which turned out to be patently false. It also seems the point at much of the audience tipped seeing the validity of both sides’ position to viewing McGregor as the Boy Who Cried Wolf.

When McGregor kicked off this whole kerfluffle by announcing the shortest-lived retirement we’ve ever seen in this sport — which itself was likely done to get ahead of the UFC announcing he was off the card — he got everyone’s attention. When he made his long Facebook post detailing his side of the story, he came off as sympathetic, rational, and full of valid points. McGregor’s done an astounding amount of work to get to his level, going above and beyond what anyone not named Ronda Rousey has done in helping to fuel Zuffa’s second boom period. So why not bend a bit and spare a star fighter coming off a loss from traveling eight time zones in the middle of camp? Rousey gets to go home and sleep in her own bed at the end of most of her media days. Floyd Mayweather makes the media come out to his gym in Las Vegas when he deigns to speak to them. A little flexibility doesn’t seem all that unreasonable.

Of course, the UFC also had valid points to make when they pulled McGregor from the card. They had already set the machinery in motion for UFC 200 when McGregor decided he didn’t want to go on the press junket. There are indeed plenty of moving parts involved in pulling off a major event, and they’re not cheap. And none of this factors in the notion that there could be bigger issues at play here that neither side is publicly discussing, which seems a given.

The featherweight champ, though, overplayed his hand with his final tweet. Fans expect promoters play fast and loose with the truth. They don’t seem to tolerate the same from fighters. If there even was any consideration to putting McGregor back on the card, the “I’m back” tweet slammed the door shut. The UFC plainly decided the money they’re taking off the table by not having McGregor headline UFC 200 is worth setting a precedent and making sure other headstrong headliners don’t pull a similar route.

McGregor will be back. And whatever his next fight will be is going to be gigantic. As will the pressure. Fans love a fighter who talks smack and backs it up. If he wins, this will all be a blip on the radar — consider how deep in the doghouse Jon Jones was at one point, and now consider that he’s headlining UFC 200. If he loses? Two straight losses sandwiching the UFC 200 flap would make 2016 the year McGregor played Icarus and got burned.

Cormier-Jones fatigue

@JayHynes: Are you tired of DC/Jones? I feel like the idea has been exhausted beyond any kind of pull, but I don’t know why

Are you kidding? I’m a writer. I will never, ever get tired of Cormier (who has the media game figured out as well as anyone in the business) or Jones (one of the most compulsively interesting people who has ever been involved in …

continue reading in source www.mmafighting.com