WWE Reportedly ‘Very Interested’ In Signing UFC Star Conor McGregor
UFC megastar Conor McGregor made history at this past Saturday’s UFC 205 event, as he became the first fighter in company history to hold a championship in two different weight classes simultaneously. He also cut a heck of a promo following his knockout win over Eddie Alvarez.
It’s been pretty clear for a while now that Conor McGregor is, by far, the biggest draw in combat sports, and he proved it again on Saturday night, as UFC president Dana White told the media that the show broke the company’s all-time pay-per-view record, adding that the only fight that would come close to breaking the new record is Jesus Christ vs. The Devil.
There’s nobody in mixed martial arts that can sell a fight like Conor McGregor. He’s often been compared to professional wrestling legend “Nature Boy” Ric Flair because of his character, and his ability to sell fights. Most people believe that he would be a perfect fit for WWE because of his skill set, and, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, WWE believes that they could do big business with the UFC’s new lightweight champ.
On Saturday’s post-UFC 205 edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, Bryan Alvarez said that WWE “very much” wants to sign Conor McGregor. Of course, as of right now, McGregor is under contract to the UFC, and he can’t do anything with WWE unless it’s cleared by Dana White. So, just because they’re interested doesn’t mean that he’s going to be showing up on Raw any time soon.
“WWE very much wants Conor [McGregor]. I know that’s probably not surprising at all. But, they want Conor.”
WWE’s chief operating officer, and head of talent relations Paul Levesque — better known as Triple H — was at Madison Square Garden for Saturday’s UFC show. It was the very first time that Levesque had been spotted at a UFC event. Was he there to speak with Conor at some point after the show concluded? Probably not. But, WWE probably believes that the UFC champ will be more interested in doing something with them if one of their top executives showed their support by attending one of his fights.
Triple H Spotted In Attendance at Madison Square Garden For UFC 205 https://t.co/v2cxlblABf pic.twitter.com/e4jBTcemkV
— SEScoops (@sescoops) November 13, 2016
Over the summer, McGregor caused quite a stir in the professional wrestling world after he said that he would “slap the head off” of everyone in the WWE locker room. Following the statement, WWE stars such as Roman Reigns, AJ Styles, Chris Jericho, Kevin Owens, and former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar all challenged McGregor to come to WWE and try to do what he said he could do.
While McGregor trashed the entire WWE locker room, he made sure to say that he has a ton of respect for both WWE chairman Vince McMahon and the aforementioned Paul “Triple H” Levesque.
Last month, WWE teased a match between Conor McGregor and Roman Reigns on their website. Will Reigns be McGregor’s opponent if the UFC megastar is able to do a match at an event like WrestleMania 33 next spring? Maybe. He’d definitely be one of the top choices.
The champ champ pic.twitter.com/iprUKL0Ldx
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) November 13, 2016
Some are concerned that McGregor’s size will negatively impact how WWE uses him because it’s pretty well-known that Vince McMahon isn’t impressed by smaller guys. But, as previously mentioned, McGregor is a massive draw, and WWE will be able to make a ton of money with him. So, they’ll probably ignore the fact that he’s not the biggest guy in the world like they did with Floyd Mayweather.
Nobody really knows what’s next for Conor McGregor. Will he go back to featherweight and fight Jose Aldo? Will he defend the lightweight title against Tony Ferguson, Khabib Nurmagomedov, or Nate Diaz? Or will he show up at WrestleMania 33? All are possible, but we’ll probably have to wait until the beginning of next year to find out what “Mystic Mac” does next.
[Featured Image by Julio Cortez/AP Images]
