Conor McGregor clearly doesn’t need to fight to stay popular on social media.
As the MMA world awaits any news of his return, ‘The Notorious’ is enjoying the fruits of his highly successful Proper No. 12 whiskey business. There’s really no reason for him to fight other than a love of the game. Fans may criticize him from afar for never competing. They say he only posts about fights on social media these days, and it’s tough to argue with them.
But the infamous Irishman is staying quite valuable doing just that.
Forbes recently released their list of the top seven most valuable athletes on social media. McGregor was ranked up there with the greats of the soccer world:
McGregor Still Rules MMA Social Media
McGregor came in at number five in the metric, trailing superstars like Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, and Neymar. Ronaldo got an unreal 887.2 million interactions alone.
However, it’s safe to say that soccer is a much more broad-based, worldwide sport than MMA is at this point in time. McGregor is still the biggest star the UFC has ever seen and by a wide margin. Despite fans’ distaste for his long periods of inactivity, any fight announcement involving him would instantly wash those tears away.
Aside from his quick-witted comments about fights and fighters that social media viewers love to bicker over, he also uses it to promote his many business ventures. Proper No. 12 has set massive sales marks, and he’s also in the clothing business.
As for actual fighting, he’s without a win inside the Octagon since November 2016. There, he beat Eddie Alvarez for the lightweight belt to become the UFC’s first-ever simultaneous two-division champion. It wasn’t quite three years ago, but it feels like about 25 in the fast-paced world of mixed martial arts. He has been linked to a rematch with hated rival Khabib Nurmagomedov. McGregor was last seen losing to ‘The Eagle’ at UFC 229 in October 2018.
This report still proves he’s on top of the world in the fight game nonetheless. Staying so relevant and successful on social media despite not fighting recently keeps McGregor near the forefront of all sporting discussion, in fact – not just mixed martial arts.
Does McGregor’s inclusion on this list mean he’s bulletproof in terms of fan loyalty?
