Eddie Hearn believes UFC wasn't happy when Conor McGregor became bigger than the promotion - "That's a nightmare for those guys"
Eddie Hearn seemingly believes that the UFC wasn’t happy when Conor McGregor became bigger than the promotion.
The Matchroom Boxing promoter suggested that McGregor’s brand transcended the UFC and the sport of MMA, making his star power so very formidable that it disrupted the UFC’s established order of power. Speaking to host Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, Hearn stated:
“For UFC, where they’ve been very smart is by – it’s such an honor to get a UFC deal. You see these kids coming out of Bellator, or Cage Warriors, or wherever it is; but the thought of getting a UFC contract is everything. But I feel in the UFC, they don’t want you to get too big. And when you do – and I used to almost laugh at Conor, because I could just imagine just the disruption that he was causing in that organization, because that’s not really the name of the game. We don’t want a star that is bigger than the UFC. Conor McGregor became bigger than the UFC. Really. And that’s a nightmare for those guys.”
Hearn insinuated that it became difficult for the UFC to control Conor McGregor in regards to his pay and matters of that ilk. That said, he did emphasize that the profit margin split in the UFC significantly favors the UFC rather than the fighters.
In simple terms, the UFC takes the lion’s share of the revenues brought in by a given UFC event whilst the fighters who competed at the event take a much smaller margin. Nevertheless, Hearn admitted that there are benefits such as the UFC PI (Performance Institute) and other facilities that the organization provides UFC fighters.
Watch Eddie Hearn discuss Conor McGregor and the UFC in the video below:
youtu.be/K24RqPJXoCo"Conor McGregor became bigger than the UFC and that's a nightmare for those guys." — @EddieHearn to @arielhelwani on #TheMMAHour
▶️ youtu.be/K24RqPJXoCo https://t.co/1Poik0VUeX
Conor McGregor plans to abstain from drinking ahead of his much-awaited comeback fight
McGregor is widely regarded as one of the biggest draws in combat sports history. He’s garnered more than 13.4 million pay-per-view buys in MMA and greater than 5.3 million pay-per-view buys in boxing.
However, ‘Notorious’ has lately suffered a few setbacks. He’s on a two-fight losing streak and suffered a gruesome leg injury last July. It's unclear as to who he'll fight next. Regardless, McGregor recently took to Instagram to reveal that he’ll quit drinking and solely focus on training ahead of his comeback fight later this year. An excerpt from his Instagram post read as follows:
"For my fighting fans, I want to say I know I am enjoying myself with my liquid, but very soon I will be immersing myself in full training again with complete abstention from my wonderful creations of Spirit and Ale.”