Conor McGregor's victory over Dustin Poirier at UFC 178 has been earning him a great deal of praise, enough that UFC President Dana White is calling him the promotion's biggest star ever.
26-year-old McGregor, who holds a 16-2 record in MMA, has had only four fights in the UFC (all of which were victories), and his win at Saturday's event established him enough for White to call him bigger than Georges St-Pierre and Brock Lesnar, adding that the hype over the Irish featherweight was "bigger than any of the fighters" to ever compete in the promotion, according to Bleacher Report.
"Conor McGregor is the real deal - he is legit," White said in an interview with MMA journalist Ariel Helwani on UFC 178's post-fight show. "He is a force that I have never seen ever. Bigger than Brock Lesnar when he was there. Bigger than any of the fighters we've ever had. Yes, [he's bigger than Georges St-Pierre]. I've never seen anything like this."
White believes McGregor will have a bright future in the UFC because of his fighting skills, polarizing personality, and huge following, MMAjunkie reported. McGregor is currently the most popular fighter in Ireland.
McGregor came out on top with a knockout in the first round. White said he wasn't always sure what was going to happen in McGregor's fight.
"This whole Conor McGregor thing has been very fascinating to me," White said, adding that he heard about the fighter numerous times when he went to Ireland to receive an award from Trinity College.
"I came back here and I was like 'Who the hell is this kid? Let's get this kid signed,'" he said. "So we signed him and he came out to Las Vegas, and we went and ate and hung out a little bit. I told (UFC CEO) Lorenzo (Fertitta), 'If this kid can even fight this much, this much, if he can even throw a punch, this kid is going to be (something special.' It's bigger than anything I've ever seen before. It's crazy. It's bigger than anything I've ever seen."
The featherweight's fight with Poirier received a lot of promotion, and the entire card for UFC 178 was one of the most anticipated cards of 2014, MMAjunkie reported. Despite the card featuring UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson, Donald Cerrone and Dominic Cruz, White gave McGregor "all" of the credit for the event's success.
"Was a nation behind GSP when GSP started?" White asked. "Let me tell you this. We're way over (projections for UFC 178). The numbers, Lorenzo and I were talking about it, and we contribute it all to Conor McGregor."
