Conor McGregor isn’t just fighting for himself and Ireland against Jose Aldo at UFC 194, but the UFC itself

UFC 194 stands to be the biggest fight in UFC history. We’ve heard that statement before: Liddell vs Ortiz, Silva vs Sonnen, Jones vs Sonnen, Lesnar vs Velasquez, all blockbusters, but pale in comparison to this mammoth matchup, and it’s all thanks to one man: Conor McGregor.

The Irishman with the mouth to lead a nation, and the skills to back it up in the cage, has almost single-handedly dragged what, on paper, should be the pound-for-pound champion against a massive underdog into a clash where the challenger is considered in many circles the favourite. Echoes of Chael Sonnen’s run against Anderson Silva are strong in the Irishman’s. It shows how amazing a job has been done of selling this fight that many are forgetting that the middleweight title is also on the line on the very same night.

However, as much as the ‘The Notorious’ has done an amazing job of putting on the front that the fans love, and gets so deep under Jose Aldo’s skin he probably itches for days after every event where the two have to be in the same room, it’ll be hard to shake the incredible weight currently resting on McGregor’s shoulders.

It’s one of the few instances where the champ comes into a title defence with seemingly less pressure than his opponent, and this comes down to two main factors: Ronda Rousey’s knockout loss to Holly Holm and Dana White.

Rousey and McGregor have quickly become the faces of the UFC. Every time you read a sports magazine, check an article online, or even turn on your TV, chances are one of these two fighters will be staring back at you. The UFC has given these fighters a bigger push than Vince McMahon gave Lex Luger in the early 1990’s. Rousey is even the cover star of the forthcoming UFC 2, EA’s video game tie-in, with the winner of Aldo/McGregor joining her.

But Dana White has given fighters special treatment before. Machida, Rua, Condit, Hardy, and many others have all been pushed as potential stands the UFC can lay their hat on, but each one of them, slowly but surely, has fallen to the mid-card and beyond as White suddenly doesn’t have use for them and their imperfect streaks.

And now, with Ronda Rousey getting knocked out in spectacular fashion against Holly Holm to lose her bantamweight title, McGregor stands alone as the man to sell the sport to the masses.

McGregor talks about the cash he brings into the company, the bums he puts on seats and the pay-per-view buys he alone brings in, and he’s right, and nobody knows this more than the White. If he were to fall in a similar fashion to Rousey, the UFC will be left without a go-to “seller”.

So while no doubt many fans will be hoping for a Conor McGregor win (probably not many Brazilian fans, and maybe even fewer fighters within the UFC cheering for the Irishman), I have a sneaking suspicion there’ll be more than a few men in suits within the company keeping their fingers cross that he can walk the walk come Saturday night. The company needs personalities, and there aren’t many that entertain like Notorious.