Las Vegas – It was once called “red panty night,” a phrase coined by Conor McGregor himself. And whatever you want to call it, the “McGregor” effect is very real.
Fight McGregor, your pay gets a bump. In the UFC’s Pay-Per-View era, that was through PPV points; the promotion appears to have sorted something else out in the Paramount+ era. Either way, Max Holloway called his pay for UFC 329 “beautiful” during Wednesday’s media day, while McGregor himself addressed the idea that he had almost become too big for the sport, leading to the UFC being reluctant to hand out big paydays to stars.
“I’ll always campaign for the fighters getting their worth, and I’m very happy with it. It’s a steady rise. If you ask Max, it’s probably five times his highest pay. So the boys are getting theirs, and I’m happy. The boys and the girls are getting theirs, and I’ll always campaign for that, and I’ll always be happy that I have helped spearhead that,” McGregor (22-6) told Cageside Press during the UFC 329 media day. “As an owner of Bareknuckle Fighting Championship, it kind of puts me in a pickle. I always vouch for the fighters, but I also have a stake in the company. So there has to be some sort of balance. But still, I am a fighter at heart, I know what it takes in this business, and I know without the fighters, there is none of this. Not an iota of it.”
“So I’m happy that the money is rising in the fight business, and that we’re thriving, and I’m happy to be back, and give it that extra little fuel to its rocket, and off it goes.”
McGregor has his return opponent in Holloway, his first fight in five years after breaking his leg against Dustin Poirier, but lightweight champ Justin Gaethje is also waiting in the wings. He’ll be in attendance on Saturday, and after being cool on a McGregor fight for years, has suggested he could be interested in a fight with the Irish superstar should he come out victorious over “Blessed.” Of course, he also noted that he wants to punch McGregor, which Conor himself took in stride.
“Join the queue. Join the queue. There’s a few,” McGregor said in response. “Yeah look he has the lightweight belt, fair play to him. Holloway put him face down, ass up though. Badly. Badly face down. So I’m not even thinking of it at this time. But if I go down to lightweight again- also, there’s another thing, I’m not so sure. I fancy the triple crown. I fancy the triple crown. So let up the disrespect you f*cking bum.”
Holloway did defeat Gaethje at UFC 300, finishing “The Highlight” in the final second of their “BMF” title fight. But if McGregor is serious about wanting a third title, he’ll need to beat Holloway, then see what it takes to get to the winner of Islam Makhachev vs. Ian Machado Garry.
Watch the full UFC 329 media day appearance by Conor McGregor above.
