Will Topuria be bigger than Mcgregor?

[ocfightfan]

He doesn't have the personality or media savvy. Conor was plotting his rise both inside and outside the cage from the beginning. He hired a film crew to produce his own content and sold a series about himself to a bunch of media organizations around the world. He was constantly working on soundbites and little narratives he could feed the media so they could get clicks. He did charitable work which didn't get enough attention and he organized events for fans. He understood the power of celebrity and put a lot of effort into becoming one.

Very few fighters are putting in that effort to help the ufc and media promote them. Most of them just want to train, fight, and hang out with their buddies. I can't blame them for that but it keeps them from getting the maximum attention to become the biggest draw they can be. You need to make it easy for lazy and desperate journalists to boost your profile and for the UFC to promote you.

 

[Nailbox]

Absolutely not, he doesn't say the right things doesn't have the draw mcg did at the start.
Doesn't have the personality
He's not good on the mic
He's 5'5 partially looks retarded in the face
So no he won't be a draw
As "mean" as that sound. A visual has big effect on drawing power

 

[AldoStillGoat]

He doesn't have the personality or media savvy. Conor was plotting his rise both inside and outside the cage from the beginning. He hired a film crew to produce his own content and sold a series about himself to a bunch of media organizations around the world. He was constantly working on soundbites and little narratives he could feed the media so they could get clicks. He did charitable work which didn't get enough attention and he organized events for fans. He understood the power of celebrity and put a lot of effort into becoming one.

Very few fighters are putting in that effort to help the ufc and media promote them. Most of them just want to train, fight, and hang out with their buddies. I can't blame them for that but it keeps them from getting the maximum attention to become the biggest draw they can be. You need to make it easy for lazy and desperate journalists to boost your profile and for the UFC to promote you.

excellent post

 

[Koro_11]

Nah he isn’t charismatic. There is some stuff that comes off real cringey like the rose in the box promo. Maybe it’s considered really cool in Spain or something.

And you don’t think Conor is cringey?

 

[ChessJitsu]

how can you be bigger than someone you're copying so much?

also I can't comment on him lacking mic skills because he's foreign but generally not being able to speak English is a marketing liability in the UFC.

also all the big stars kind of stand for something (except Brock Lesnar who just brought over his WWE star power).

Ronda Rousey was about women/feminism.

Conor McGregor was about Irish pride and self-belief ("if you speak it/believe it/etc")

Khabib was about Islam and traditional values

Jon Jones just had historical unparalleled dominance and wasn't as big as those 3.

Ilia doesn't really stand for anything.

He got the same tattoo styling as McGregor and O'Malley, is a Georgian immigrant who embraces Spain., etc.,etc.

There's nothing really special about him in terms of marketing value.

We've seen plenty of dudes who are exactly like him. No one is really captivated by him.

We all know he's a dangerous dude and a talented champion, but that's not something that makes someone a star unless he goes on a Jon Jones type of run.

 

[sandokan83]

The trauma of Aldo's 12-second defeat is still hurting some people...

 

[swarrrm]

Not a chance.

 

[NoSmilez]

And you don’t think Conor is cringey?

Connor is charismatic. Topuria isn't. He is like dollar store Mcgregor. He even has similar front and back tattoos.

Don't deny that Mcgregor was on fire for the first few years of his career. He was doing it off the gift of gab. There are so many MMA memes and soundbites that came from Mcgregor. I am not even a Mcgregor fan but I understand what he did for the sport. He is one of the few people that actually broke into the mainstream. People that don't watch MMA know who he is.

 

[Motivated BJ Penn]

Not even close. He has an exciting fighting style and elite talent but people aren't embracing his personality and he has some of the worst trash talk I've ever heard. Reminds me more of Cody Garbrandt than Conor tbh, except Cody was actually likeable.

Cody Garbrandt is pretty accurate. Just an arrogant meat head with no charisma, only difference that he can backup his trash talk

 

[nostradumbass]

Not physically bigger, and not even in the same universe in popularity. Doubt he'll even become the most popular in his own division. His win over Volk wasn't anything like Conor's over Aldo. Conor was already the biggest name in the sport when he knocked out Aldo in the first exchange to end his 10 year win streak. Volk was 35 years old coming off a brutal KO loss a few months earlier and didn't look very good at all, and was still touching up Topuria for a round and half before the finish.

 

[pick999]

If he made a onlyfans maybe

 

[Titan1980]

No he wont beat Conor ever unless something magical happens but that is such a fickle thing it'd be like hitting the powerball lottery. At the same career point Conor was talking about Mayweather, most people dont even know who this guy is. I'm a fan and I think I've seen this guy fight once. Nobody gives a second thought about him really.

 

[ChickenBrother]

Nah he isn’t charismatic. There is some stuff that comes off real cringey like the rose in the box promo. Maybe it’s considered really cool in Spain or something.

Agree he’s not really charismatic, but I thought the rose promo was pretty cool. Figured it was a tribute to Don Flamenco from Mike Tyson’s Punchout on NES.

 

[LampShade94]

He'll never get anywhere close to Conors level of stardom. Doesn't have the charisma.

 

[Koro_11]

Connor is charismatic. Topuria isn't. He is like dollar store Mcgregor. He even has similar front and back tattoos.

Don't deny that Mcgregor was on fire for the first few years of his career. He was doing it off the gift of gab. There are so many MMA memes and soundbites that came from Mcgregor. I am not even a Mcgregor fan but I understand what he did for the sport. He is one of the few people that actually broke into the mainstream. People that don't watch MMA know who he is.

And he was cringe throughout, at least to me, and I am guessing to anyone with above room temperature IQ.

You’re downplaying this because he happened to be popular among a certain demographic? I mean, Paris Hilton, Kim Kardashian, etc., were popular, yet they have no talent to speak of, it doesn’t take much these days to appeal to a certain type of person, especially in US.

And just to be clear, I’m not suggesting Conor had no talent, none of his schtick would have worked if he wasn’t also good at fighting. He also had the benefit of English being his native language, whereas Ilija probably comes off more clunky because he is speaking in his fourth language. Taking that into consideration to me he’s not even a fraction of cringey that Conor is.

 

[bartleby929]

no one in america will care about him as much as they did mcnuggets

 

[camL17]

To answer this question all you need to do is compare the attention garnered by Ilia’s first title fight vs MacGregor’s

 

[kirsky]

no. not a chance. the world had celebrities before, but conor is a once in a lifetime media phenomenon. and to be perfectly honest, i never found mcgregor all that funny or engaging, but the effect he had on the audience was staggering. it was almost like he had a magic aura. topuria is cool, but conor is in another universe of stardom.

Yes but people forgetting one thing, huge and rich irish population in usa, in my opinion that was biggest factor.

 

[Rapa]

As a star? I dont think so but as a fighter? He is above conor already

 

[legcramp]

As a star? I dont think so but as a fighter? He is above conor already

If we compare their fights ONLY leading up to the FW strap, I don't think so and this is coming from a guy that always root against Conor.

Conor beat Aldo, Mendes, Poirier, Max
Ilia beat Volk, Emmett, Mitchell, Ryan Hall?