UFC: Dustin Poirier knows Conor McGregor connection pays more than title, says Frank Mir
- ‘The UFC don’t ever want the fighter to be bigger than the show. But guess what? Conor opened that door,’ says former heavyweight champ Mir
- ‘Fighters are starting to realise they have to stop worrying about being the UFC champ, and worry about being a superstar’
Frank Mir has noticed a growing trend in the UFC.
After Dustin Poirier knocked out Conor McGregor in their UFC 257 rematch in Abu Dhabi, Khabib Nurmagomedov officially retired six weeks later and vacated the 155-pound crown. “The Diamond” turned down a chance to become the undisputed title-holder to face the Irishman for a third time this summer, with Michael Chandler to fight Charles Oliveira for the belt at UFC 262.
The match-up could generate Poirier the biggest pay cheque of his entire career, and former UFC heavyweight champ Mir (19-13) thinks fighters are coming to the realisation people just don’t care about the titles as much any more.
“It’s a great little moniker to put, ‘Hey I was the champ’,” Mir told SCMP MMA. “Look, for the rest of my life, I’m announced as the two-time UFC heavyweight champ. It does give you some validity to your name.
“But at the end of the day, Conor McGregor’s Conor McGregor. The UFC can go bankrupt tomorrow. Conor ain’t going nowhere. He’s bigger than the show itself.”
With “The Notorious” becoming an undeniable box office draw, superstardom and earning power is the name of the game. Just look at Saturday’s Triller Fight Club main event boxing bout between former UFC star Ben Askren and YouTuber Jake Paul. The 41-year-old Mir is set to make his professional boxing debut against former IBF cruiserweight champion Steve Cunningham (29-9-1) on the undercard.
UFC 261: Jon Anik expects ‘much better version’ of Zhang Weili, ‘I don’t know if you can say that about Rose Namajunas’
“Fighters are starting to realise, ‘I have to stop worrying about being the UFC champ and I gotta worry about me being a superstar and that’s what’s important’,” Mir said. “It’s what the UFC really doesn’t want. They don’t ever want the fighter to be bigger than the show. But guess what? Conor opened that door and now that’s how it is.
“You want to be like a Fedor [Emelianenko]. Where your name is bigger than the show you’re on. And that’s what Poirier is now realising. His connection with McGregor is earning him more revenue in the long run.
“Even if he were to make more money for the title fight, it’s smarter to fight McGregor. Because if he goes out and gets a [second] victory now over McGregor, his namesake, his ability to go get sponsorships, public speaking … that brand identity, that’s invaluable and that’s what you carry with you even after you’re no longer the champ.”
Just as McGregor shook up the MMA world, he did the same inside the boxing ring against Floyd Mayweather in 2017.
“It allowed one to see MMA fighters are more than capable of handling themselves,” Mir said. “I have McGregor winning the first three rounds pretty much hands down. McGregor opened the door for us in that sense to allow us to go in there and people go, ‘Oh, these guys are legitimate, they can go in here and compete’. Boxing realises we bring name recognition.
“I mean, who knew who Steve Cunningham was before he took the fight? Cunningham’s a great fighter. I’m not taking nothing away from him but as far as household recognition there are more MMA guys that are known in the world than there are boxers. The boxers have to be the Canelos [Canelo Alvarez] or the Mayweathers, Tyson Furys. Even Deontay Wilder, man. Up until him and Tyson Fury fought each other, Stipe Miocic was way more famous.”
