Conor McGregor is right; he will be 'immortalized' if he wins at UFC 205
NEW YORK – Conor McGregor might be the world’s undisputed champion when it comes to hyperbole. If he’s not, the list of those ahead of him is a short one.
The UFC’s featherweight title holder is anything but modest when discussing his talent, the significance of his accomplishments or his impact on mixed martial arts.
But on Wednesday, following a spirited workout at Madison Square Garden, McGregor was dead on point when he said he “will be immortalized” if he defeats lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez in the main event of UFC 205 on Saturday and becomes the first fighter in the promotion’s 23-year history to hold two belts simultaneously.
Winning a championship in the UFC is an extraordinarily difficult feat to achieve, one that only 62 men and six women have accomplished. Two men, Randy Couture (light heavyweight and heavyweight) and B.J. Penn (welterweight and lightweight), have held belts in two classes, but not simultaneously as McGregor is attempting to do.
Women’s strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk, who defends her belt Saturday against Karolina Kowalkiewicz, has four championship wins in her short career, which puts her tied for 15th in UFC history.
“It’s so tough because you are always fighting the best,” Jedrzejczyk said. “In the UFC, there are no easy fights and when it’s a championship bout … ”
Her voice trailed off and she didn’t finish. Most fighters get only one shot and never again get near the title, so when they do compete for it, they are in most cases as prepared and ready as they’ve ever been.
A large majority of fighters fall to the ground, overcome by emotion, when they win a belt – because it was the fulfillment of a lifetime of work, sacrifice, disappointment and perseverance.
Tyron Woodley, the welterweight champion who makes the first defense of the belt he took from Robbie Lawler in July against Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson, wanted his title shot so badly that he sat out for 18 months awaiting it.
After winning the belt, he told Yahoo Sports, “It means so much because there are so few people who knows what it took to get to that point, let alone to push it across the finish line.”
UFC 205 will be held on the 23rd anniversary of Denver’s UFC 1. The company did not begin handing out title belts until 1997, however, because the early UFC shows either featured an eight-man one-night tournament format or a super fight.
Those winners, though, aren’t regarded as champions. The first official champion is Mark Coleman, who defeated Dan Severn at UFC 12 on Feb. 7, 1997.
Only 68 people have worn a UFC championship belt of the thousands who have competed in the organization. While there was plenty of competition in the early years, for the last dozen years or so, the UFC has had without question the majority of the greatest fighters in the world on its roster.
That McGregor might become the first of those to hold two titles at once is an achievement difficult to put into words.
It’s more significant given that it comes as the UFC is finally lurching into mainstream status. The media attention is scant compared to what the NFL or NBA gets, but far fewer UFC fighters shoulder a significantly larger burden than a handful at the top.
Elite NFL stars such as Tom Brady, Antonio Brown and J.J. Watt do only a fraction of the interviews and appearances that UFC stars like McGregor and Ronda Rousey must do.
And given that Rousey has for all intents and purposes declined to speak to the media over the past year, most of the obligation has gone to McGregor.
He’s handled it masterfully, though even he has cut back some. The mere fact he generates so much attention and publicity makes mundane things like getting from Point A to Point B an adventure.
He can’t just pack his bag, leave the house and walk unnoticed to the gym.
His P.R. schedule, which he railed against in the spring before being yanked from the UFC 200 main event, cuts hours out of his day, particularly as a fight nears.
Few athletes in any sport are as in demand as constantly as McGregor.
That makes it doubly important that he takes advantage of his practice time. Alvarez, like most of his opponents now, is an elite fighter who isn’t going to roll over because McGregor is famous.
“I don’t care about any of that crap,” Alvarez said.
McGregor, as is his wont, is predicting a first-round knockout. If he pulls it off and begins to brag, indulge him. Not many could do what he’s attempting to pull off.
“Saturday night, I become immortal,” he said. “I am immortalized in this. I want the second belt. It has never been done before. It’s my life’s work.”
Coming on what undoubtedly will be the most-viewed card in the sport’s history, it’s a feat that will live forever in MMA lore if he pulls it off.
