Former UFC light-weight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and one-time interim 155-pound titleholder Dustin Poirier are two of the largest names in blended martial arts (MMA), due to their large pay-per-view (PPV) success atop a number of UFC combat playing cards.
Conor McGregor deserves a lot of the credit score.
That’s in accordance with former UFC heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier, who now serves as UFC colour commentator and MMA analyst for ESPN. “DC” insists the record-breaking “Infamous” helped elevate Cormier’s “greatest mates” by way of his mainstream recognition.
“He has elevated two of my greatest mates,” Cormier mentioned throughout his “DC & RC” present (transcribed by Farah Hannoun). “Two of the blokes that I really like, that I respect on this sport greater than anybody. He has elevated Khabib to a megastar, and he has elevated Dustin Poirier to a stage of stardom that Dustin by no means may’ve imagined getting earlier than. So not solely does he assist himself, he helps the blokes that he shares the Octagon with – particularly those that may beat him.”
Nurmagomedov defeated McGregor within the UFC 229 headliner again in late 2018. Poirier adopted go well with with a knockout victory at UFC 257, then prevailed for a second time when “Infamous” shattered his shin of their UFC 264 rematch (extra on that damage right here).
Crimson crutches are the brand new crimson panties.
If the trash-talking Irishman made Khabib and Poirier into megastars, then who’s answerable for elevating McGregor? Cormier suggests the “Infamous” knockout over Jose Aldo at UFC 194 was the catalyst for the “Mystic Mac” period, although you could possibly additionally argue that UFC (with its formidable hype machine) is the true brains behind the operation.
And if we’re on the subject of constructing stars, maybe Cormier must be sending these annual “thanks” playing cards to Jon Jones.
