Conor McGregor Unhappy With Promotion Of UFC 197: Those Posters Are Garbage
UFC 197, which is slated for March 5, 2016 from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, will play host to arguably one of the biggest fights in not only promotional history, but sport history as well.
Reigning featherweight champion and Irish superstar the “Notorious” Conor McGregor will be moving up to challenge lightweight boss Rafael dos Anjos for the 155-pound title.
Although McGregor’s title won’t be on the line, this is a bout between champions, and a sure super fight to say the least. According to the “Notorious” one, however, the fight isn’t being promoted that way, and the Irishman isn’t too happy about it.
Recently speaking at the UFC 197 press conference which was held in Las Vegas earlier this week, McGregor wondered why he wasn’t holding his belt in the event’s promotional posters, even going as far as to call the work “garbage”:
“This is a super fight. I look upon that poster, I see myself tucked in the back there. That’s what I just noticed, where is my damn belt? Where are all these historic images? These are posters that will be looked back on long after it’s all said and done and you’ve got to look back on that absolute garbage. So you know, I think I might have to go into that department because they must be getting comfortable in that poster department. They wanna get their act together and start doing their damn job. [Dos Anjos] fought on free TV. He’s never brought a dime to the company, he’s never made a dime yet there he is sitting on the front of my poster.”
When asked what the reasoning behind this was, UFC President Dana White simply stated that it was because McGregor wasn’t defending his title.
This isn’t the first time two champions have gone head to head in the Octagon, as former lightweight champion BJ Penn took on former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre back at UFC 94 for St-Pierre’s then held 170-pound strap.
Oddly enough, Penn’s 155-pound title was in the event’s posters, with “The Prodigy” carrying it around leading it up the bout as well. It was made clear that UFC 94’s main event was a bout between two champions making this current scenario quite odd, especially given McGregor’s star power.
What do you make of the situation?
