UFC president Dana White has set a blueprint of what it takes to be truly ‘exciting and baddest’ in the MMA game. After being in the fighting business for so many years and seeing the greats of the sport, he has found that there are some common traits among the greats. And now, he’s shared it with the MMA community.
Every once in a while the UFC brings in a livewire fighter who comes and captures the world’s attention by sheer force of will.
They always seem to get the support of the fans no matter what they do and the fans feel a special connection with such fighters.
White has an eye for such talent. Conor McGregor, Alex Pereira, Khamzat Chimaev… this is a rather long list! But what is it that makes these guys special? Why are fans willing to pay exorbitant prices of their own hard-earned money to see these men fight inside the octagon?
In a recent interview with jazzysworldtv on Instagram he spoke about what these common traits or characteristics are that make these fighters exciting,
“It’s all about mentality, obviously number 1 you have to be talented. Mentality, heart, toughness, you got to have a great chin….I say this all the time, fighters are a different breed than most of us, they’re special.”
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Of course, when one has all of these qualities and more, they can soar up and redefine the sport in more than one way. Case in point, Conor McGregor.
While he is off duty now, for the time he was an active fighter in the UFC, the Irishman would fight anyone and win. He had hands, technique, and mic skills and he was mad as a hat. It also helped that when Conor McGregor walked down to the voice of the late Sinead O’Connor singing Foggy Dew, the whole of the Irish nation would walk down with him.
Of course, it’s been 3 years since that phenomenon took place. But fret not, Mr. White here is known to fix things.
White assures McGregor’s return
Dana White recently appeared on the Outta Pocket podcast hosted by Robert Griffin III on YouTube and spoke about everything from politics to the UFC.
So of course, RGIII had to ask him about McGregor and his much-anticipated return to fighting. The UFC president responded by saying,
“It’s tough to get up and fight when you’re in the position that he’s in. But I do believe that Conor McGregor will fight in ’25. There is no fight made or a date set or any of that.”
Conor McGregor is enjoying life right now, enjoying the fruits of his labor, so it is very hard to want to come and fight in the octagon.
But given the number of beefs he wants to settle before his time at the UFC is at an end, it would seem that the Irishman will want to step into the limelight soon.
Right now, his proposed opponent Michael Chandler is going to be fighting Charles Oliveira, so there are a couple of other names, the Irishman has dropped in the last few weeks, fighters he has had unfinished business with- Dustin Poirier and Nate Diaz!
McGregor is tied 1-1 with Diaz and has been going on about a trilogy fight for ages. And while he lost to Poirier, given that their last fight was a medical stoppage, McGregor considers that series leveled at 1-1 as well. So, if he decides to walk away from the sport, he wants to do it with a clean slate.