Former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and one-time interim 155-pound titleholder Dustin Poirier are two of the biggest names in mixed martial arts (MMA), thanks to their massive pay-per-view (PPV) success atop multiple UFC fight cards.
Conor McGregor deserves most of the credit.
That’s according to former UFC heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier, who now serves as UFC color commentator and MMA analyst for ESPN. “DC” insists the record-breaking “Notorious” helped elevate Cormier’s “best friends” through his mainstream popularity.
“He has elevated two of my best friends,” Cormier said during his “DC & RC” show (transcribed by Farah Hannoun). “Two of the guys that I love, that I appreciate in this sport more than anyone. He has elevated Khabib to a megastar, and he has elevated Dustin Poirier to a level of stardom that Dustin never could’ve imagined getting before. So not only does he help himself, he helps the guys that he shares the Octagon with – especially the ones that can beat him.”
Nurmagomedov defeated McGregor in the UFC 229 headliner back in late 2018. Poirier followed suit with a knockout victory at UFC 257, then prevailed for a second time when “Notorious” shattered his shin in their UFC 264 rematch (more on that injury here).
Red crutches are the new red panties.
If the trash-talking Irishman made Khabib and Poirier into megastars, then who is responsible for elevating McGregor? Cormier suggests the “Notorious” knockout over Jose Aldo at UFC 194 was the catalyst for the “Mystic Mac” era, though you could also argue that UFC (with its formidable hype machine) is the real brains behind the operation.
And if we’re on the topic of making stars, perhaps Cormier should be sending those annual “thank you” cards to Jon Jones.