Georges St-Pierre says Conor McGregor’s trash talk was the driving force behind his status as the most popular fighter in UFC history, while Demetrious Johnson argues it was McGregor’s skill set that first drew him in.
The two all-time greats discussed McGregor on a recent episode of The GSP Podcast ahead of his July 11 return at UFC 329 against Max Holloway.
I think it’s because fights are promoted by emotion. They try to trigger emotion. Most fans, I mean, not all the fans, but I would say a big part of the fans in mixed martial arts, especially in the west part of the globe, they want to be attached to an emotion. That’s what triggers their interest for a fight. ‘Oh, he said this’ or ‘He did this,’ so they relate to that thing. That’s why I believe, for example, Conor McGregor was very skilled, but what makes him the most popular fighter of all time is his talking, his ability.
Johnson pushed back slightly, saying it was McGregor’s movement and technique that originally attracted him.
And for me, it was his skill set. I’ll never forget watching him fight Diego Brandao, the way he was able to move and hit him. The way he would throw his cross, southpaw, his push kicks. Even when he fought — I didn’t care, the shit talking was the cherry on top for me. It attracts the masses, but for me what attracted me to Conor was his skill set.
St-Pierre gave McGregor credit for being able to back up his words.
Conor was the best because he was very charismatic. He used to create an emotion out of it. You couldn’t look at Conor and be like, ‘I don’t care.’ It’s either you love him, you want to see him win, or you want to see him lose. But behind that he was able to back it up because he was like a sniper with that left hand. Boom.
