It Kinda Sucks That UFC 200 Won't Be The Grand Spectacle It Was Once Imagined To Be
Well I guess I was slightly wrong about McGregor being on the UFC 200 card. As it stands right now Dana White is holding his ground and not allowing McGregor back on it, which I think is a mistake. I see both sides of it- Dana can’t let Conor dictate the way the company is run. But at the same time McGregor is the biggest draw in the company and sometimes you have to compromise with your biggest stars to ensure they stay the biggest draw. And that’s why I mostly sided with McGregor in this whole dispute. It’s hard for him to stay on top when he’s traveling the world promoting a fight, but can’t properly train for the fight. McGregor is a master of media and hype, it’s not like the fight will fail without him doing morning radio shows in podunk towns in Wisconsin. Which is why him not being on the UFC 200 card stinks.
UFC 200 was originally supposed to be a mega-show. Rousey, Jones, Velasquez, Aldo vs Edgar, and headlined by the cash cow of the company, Conor McGregor. But now UFC 200 doesn’t have him (or Rousey). And to the every day Joe, to the common man, to the guy who wants to get into MMA and UFC but isn’t quite there yet, it’s a massive blow. Now to the casual fan, UFC 200 is just another PPV. A “I’ll catch the awesome KO on Barstool later” type of thing. They announced the main event on Good Morning America a couple weeks ago and it didn’t move the needle one bit. Jon Jones should be a draw, but the majority of his mainstream attention comes from being arrested. Is Miesha Tate a draw? I’m not so sure. She’s the “girl who beat the girl who beat Rousey” right now. Not exactly a main event headline.
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So going back to the my first sentence of the blog, I was wrong about Conor McGregor being on the UFC 200 card (for now…I think there’s stilllll a chance in my heart of hearts). But it’s clear that Dana and Conor are still talking about each other for a reason. They’re going to build his next fight through the media. Wouldn’t shock me if some argument breaks out during their lunch and TMZ just happens to be there to catch it all on tape. But for now, it does suck McGregor isn’t on the card to make UFC 200 a grand spectacle, but whatever UFC he does fight on will take it’s place instead.