After big MSG win, Conor McGregor demands larger slice of UFC pie
Conor McGregor now has two titles after beating Eddie Alvarez in the second round for the UFC lightweight title at UFC 205 at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 12, 2016. Credit: Jeffrey Basinger
Conor McGregor owned Eddie Alvarez inside the octagon early Sunday morning at UFC 205 in Madison Square Garden. Three knockdowns in the first round and a TKO in the second round put Alvarez’s lightweight title around McGregor’s waist.
Now, McGregor wants to own a piece of everyone in the UFC.
“You want me to stick around, you want me to keep doing what I’m doing, let’s talk, but I want the ownership now,” said the reigning featherweight champion who became the first UFC fighter to hold titles in two weight classes simultaneously. “I want the equal share. I want what I deserve, what I’ve earned.”
The UFC was sold this summer by Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta to WME-IMG for a reported $4 billion. McGregor has become the biggest star in the sport, with his last five fights among the top six live gates in UFC history. Shortly after the sale, new ownership announced a list of celebrity and athlete investors in the UFC, including Tom Brady, Serena Williams, Jimmy Kimmel, Cam Newton and Ben Affleck.
“I’ve earned something,” McGregor said. “Who owns the company now? People have shares in the company. Celebrities. Conan O’Brien owns the UFC now. So where’s my share? Where’s my equity? If I’m the one that’s bringing this. They’ve gotta come talk to me now, that’s all I know.”
McGregor also announced at the post-fight news conference that he and girlfriend Dee Devlin are expecting their first child in 2017. Impending fatherhood has McGregor thinking differently now.
“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,” McGregor said. “I need to be set for life for this. If you want me to be truly 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.”
UFC delivers record gate at Garden
Remember all that lobbying and politicking against legalizing MMA in New York for the past eight years? All that really did was help the UFC’s New York City debut deliver an even bigger show.
UFC 205 drew a live gate of $17.7 million, the biggest in UFC history by more than $5 million. Attendance was 20,427.
“I would like to thank the Las Vegas Culinary Union for spending their members’ dues to help make this the biggest night in UFC history,” UFC president Dana White said. “Thank you, dummies.”
The gate also broke the record for a sporting event at Madison Square Garden, obliterating the $13.5 million from the Evander Holyfield-Lennox Lewis fight in 1999.
White also said UFC 205 broke their pay-per-view record but didn’t provide the figures.
Weidman’s dream turns ugly
Chris Weidman’s “dream come true” moment had a nightmarish ending as he lost by third-round TKO to Yoel Romero.
“It’s very tough, very tough night,” said Weidman, the former UFC middleweight champion from Baldwin and the face of the years long fight to legalize MMA in New York.
Weidman walked out of the cage, his face cut open from a flying knee after a second consecutive loss.
“This was not the way I imagined this going, but I still see the beauty in the little things that I got to experience,” Weidman said. “That walkout. The weigh-ins. Every part of it I felt the love, so that was nice.”
Mark La Monica is a deputy sports editor at Newsday. He also covers mixed martial arts.
