The Aura of Conor Mcgregor After His Loss

After a year layoff, Conor McGregor returned to the octagon to face Dustin Poirier in a rematch. In their first match in 2014, McGregor knocked out Poirier in the first round.

In their rematch, a competitive first round McGregor reminded the fans of his powerful left-hand hurting Poirier. In the second round Poirier’s calf kicks severely depleted McGregor’s movement allowing him to win by knockout.

McGregor has lost before. Each time McGregor loses, he returns with a win. This loss was not the original McGregor though. Coming into this match McGregor was highly respectful of Poirier, not the brash trash-talker we’ve become accustomed to since his start in the UFC.

In the prefight interviews, McGregor explained how he moved his training camp to Portugal and how he organized his training program by himself. During the fight, McGregor did not check any of Poirier’s calf-kicks and made no adjustments during the fight with his injured leg.

Obviously, McGregor is not the same fighter who was the simultaneous UFC champion in two weight classes. The aura of McGregor was once that of a disrespectful loudmouth, attracting a large following by winning fights with highlight reel knockouts.

Now he has transitioned into a polite fighter who performs at a subpar level. Not to mention, he doesn’t train properly anymore. So the question remains, what is McGregor’s aura now?

From a financial perspective, the pay-per-view buys for the event reached a staggering 1.6 million. The event was still successful even with a lack of classic McGregor fight promotion.

After this performance though, I doubt fans will want to spend $69.99 on pay-per-view to watch his next fight. Even though McGregor tried to reinvent his image outside of the octagon, it was futile due to his lackluster performance.

McGregor still has the opportunity to successfully reinvent himself again for his next fight (which has yet to be announced.) McGregor needs his coaches to organize his fight camp and not allow him to control his fight preparation.

In terms of fight promotion, the numbers speak for themselves. McGregor does not need to continue his trash talking antics in order to maintain his popularity. If his fight against Poirier was any indication, his following has relatively stayed as large as it has ever been, therefore, no need to continue the buffoonery.

Most importantly, McGregor has to perform at a high level if he still wants to maintain the aura of a fighter who accomplishes great feats. McGregor still has a large following, but another poor performance will jeopardize that.

If McGregor had won against Poirier, his next fight would be for the UFC Lightweight Championship belt. Instead, his next fight will most likely determine if his career still holds any water.