McGregor really is here to take over

UFC featherweight and lightweight champion Conor McGregor came into the league declaring he wasn’t here to take part, he was here to take over. Following his effortless victory over former lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez, McGregor made his long-teased announcement, that made good on his original sentiment.

If you have ever seen a film by United Artists, and you have, then you are part of a long story that plays out in entertainment. In the early part of the last century, movies were created through a rigid studio system. Then four of the biggest stars, Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, and D. W. Griffith set up their own studio, United Artists. An exact parallel would be McGregor and Ronda Rousey setting up a competing league, which they are not, but like generations before them, the goal is the same – money and control.

The announcement came during the UFC 205 post-fight press conference at New York’s Madison Square Garden, and began with some perhaps related personal news.

“I’m going to be a daddy early next year,” said McGregor, as transcribed by Dave Doyle for MMA Fighting. “I’m crapping my jocks, it’s messing with my head.”

“If you want to come at me, if you want me to stick around and help service that debt and continue to push the company, bring me on board, for real. I need to be set for life for this. If you want me to be truly on on board, then I need to be all-in on this proper, as an owner, and have an equity stake in the company. That’s what I’m looking for.”

“They’ve got to come talk to me now. Both belts. Money. I want the ownership now. If we’re going to keep doing this, let’s talk, but I want an equal share. I want what I’ve deserved, what I’ve earned.”

“I’ve earned something. I’ve earned, I mean, who owns the company now? There’s people who have shares in the company, celebrities, Conan O’Brien owns the UFC now, so, where’s my share? Where’s my equity? I’m the one that’s banking this.”

McGregor also spoke movingly about having seen for a long time that he would become the first fighter in UFC history to own two belts at once. Now he has another vision. His track record is pretty good.