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Is Conor McGregor One Of The Shrewdest Sportsmen Ever?

Is Conor McGregor One Of The Shrewdest Sportsmen Ever?

He knows what he's doing.

Mark McGowan

Mark McGowan

So, finally we've been given confirmation of the Mayweather-McGregor fight, which sees the former come out of retirement and the latter switch the octagon for the ring.

It's been a long time in the making, as the pair have jousted on social media and thrown mega-money figures in the air. However all the speculation is behind us and now, on August 26, we'll see the pair go at it.

When it was announced, people quickly scrambled to check that they weren't in work the next day, and to organise just where they're going to watch it with their mates; most of them failing to realise that the whole thing is a money spinner.

Of course, though, who cares? Two egos going at it in front of thousands, it's going to be great.

There's no doubting that a lot of the event will over shadow the actual fight, as it'll be more of a spectacle.

At the moment it's hard to call the outcome of the fight, given that Floyd has been retired for two years and McGregor plies his trade in a different combat.

But does it even matter? We all know there's a huge sum of money going to each fighter, probably enough for the 28-year-old Irishman to never do anything for the rest of his life. They needn't throw a punch on the day, really, when it comes down to it there's been massive hype, all those people are there, and the money is in their pockets.

Anyway, that's for actual boxing experts to determine. One thing we can all ponder over, though, is whether or not Conor McGregor has one of the greatest sport-business minds ever.

He's pretty much the undisputed king of the promo. It doesn't matter where it is, who it's with or who's in the audience, if there's a press conference or interview going down, McGregor will be viral within minutes.

He just knows what ticks. An outlandish, boisterous, attitude, paired with expletive rants that lead to pushing and shoving. Then, turn to the crowd, exclaim you're the best and hear the roar. It's so simple, yet so hard to pull off, yet he does it with such ease.

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When you look at his fights too, particularly his pay-per-views, it's always a lot bigger than just a fight. At UFC 189 he was supposed to take on Jose Aldo for the Brazilian's featherweight championship, however Jose pulled out, being replaced by Chad Mendes.

McGregor TKO'd Mendes in the second round, winning the interim belt, meaning that the meaning of his future bout with Aldo suddenly had a new meaning.

The swift disposal of Mendes, who was by no means an underdog, had people thinking that after the verbal jousting between The Notorious and Aldo, Conor could really do the business.

He did, of course, which led to his ego growing and his eyes on bigger prizes.

The Dubliner floated the idea of moving up to the lightweight division, where he claimed he'd rule. He went after Nate Diaz, another cocksure fighter who's ego equals that of the Irishman's.

For McGregor, it was great - again. The press covered his increase in weight, monitored his training and noted how big of an achievement it'd be if he took out Diaz.

He will always be the first to admit that it's pretty much all about the money. Of course, he would go onto lose to Diaz, which only fuelled rumours of a rematch that would come to fruition and, evidently, made him more money.

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He'd win that too, it being another notch in the belt. While his weight was still up, too, he got the chance to take on Eddie Alvarez for the Light Heavyweight Championship.

There was commotion in the division, as fighters believed Conor was only being given the chance based on his media popularity and pay-per-view draw, rather than ability.

They were right, really. Dana White would have been silly not to book the bout, which went on to make The Notorious a history maker. It's all business, baby. A huge draw, who people love and pay money to see, taking on someone for another belt and becoming a light heavyweight champ? Fucking screams money. It's what Conor does.

He also took shots at the WWE roster on Twitter. In an interview he said: "For the most part those WWE guys are pussies. To be honest, they're messed up pussies if you ask me.

"There's some dons in that wrestling game. The McMahons, they're dons. Triple H is a don. The Rock is a don. But the rest of them are pussies."

Many of the superstars didn't take too kindly to his words, and after Conor tweeted saying: "I didn't mean no disrespect to the @wwe fans. What I meant to say was that I'd slap the head off your entire roster. And twice on Sunday's."

Instantly wrestlers such as Kurt Angle, Randy Orton, Roman Reigns, Rusev, Bubba Ray Dudley and AJ Styles jumped at the chance to reply, thus pumping more free publicity for The Notorious.

But, all the while, there's been an underlying motive behind his activity. He first mentioned Mayweather during the build up to his fight at UFC 205 with Eddie Alvarez, simply saying that he might have to 'drag Floyd Mayweather out here and see what the fuck he's up to', knowing full well it would reach the former boxer's ears and the ball would begin to roll.

Since then he's endured publicity while effectively doing nothing, as speculation over the fight grew. He welcomed the birth of his son, yet there was always a tenuous link back to Floyd. He went to Liverpool's Aintree race course for the Grand National, yet talk still focused on Floyd. It worked.

And now? He's got what's being touted as the 'fight of the century', ready to earn a monumental pay packet and make history... Again.

Shrewd.

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: Conor Mcgregor, UFC, Floyd Mayweather