Conor McGregor opens “McGregor Sports and Entertainment”

Conor McGregor opens McGregor Sports and Entertainment

Isaiah Garcia, Reporter

In the early days of the UFC there were no brands, but as the sport progressed, different brands company started to support the fighters. Soon the UFC had brands everywhere from fighting shorts to shirts, even on the canvas of the octagon. Big names brands like Nike, Xbox, Reebok, and many more. The fighters like these kind of things because many of them got payed for the brands they promoted. But that all changed on December 2, 2014 when the UFC announced that they would do a 6 year contract exclusive deal with Reebok. That means all the other brands would not be able to be on the outfits of the fighters or the canvas. If the fighters are caught during fight week with other brands they would be fined. Most of the fighters didn’t like this choice from the UFC because it means they wouldn’t get paid from Reebok like they would from other brands.

Therefore, for four years fighters couldn’t get sponsored which lead some of the other fighters to different MMA companies because they needed the money they weren’t getting. Most stayed, though, due to the fact that the UFC is the biggest and has the best fighters anyone could offer. In 2017, MMA superstar, Conor McGregor, made a run at Floyd Mayweather Jr. when both of them were set to fight each other August 28, in the boxing ring. Not only did McGregor get a massive payday for it, but he even started his own company. On the first of August, he started his own clothing line and company, McGregor Sports and Entertainment. In doing so both of those were on the ring canvas and promo for the fight. He was the first fighter to have that in his boxing debu. At the end of that fight, in August, McGregor was giving a little tease that he was working on something else but didn’t give us much to put together.

McGregor went off the radar without fighting for a year due to the birth of his child. Because of this we didn’t see much of him but we did see him later on the news getting in trouble with the law and altercations with rivals of his. During one of the press conference for the UFC it was announced that he would fight October 6th in Las Vegas. However, he shut out the press and remained in silence. On September 20th the UFC held a press conference for his fight. For years the UFC has denied co promotion with anyone, only little contracts with companies. With no surprise, the Irish superstar struck a deal with the UFC to be the first ever company and fighter to co-promote with the UFC. This little tease he was hiding from us was announced to be his new Irish whiskey brand “Proper Twelve.” The deal includes that “Proper Twelve” and “McGregor Sports and Entertainment” will be set in the Octagon Canvas. The UFC has been promoting his whiskey non-stop, posting it on their instagram and on their official page which they have never done with any other company. It is yet to be said how much he will be getting out of the deal but one can only imagine it is a lot.