Audie Attar: Conor McGregor Will Leave His Legacy On His Own Terms

On January 18th, Conor McGregor will return to the Octagon for the first time in fifteen months at UFC 246, against ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone. Going into the main event of the first UFC event of 2020, many fans are questioning whether we see the Conor of old. One man who is confident that we will, is his manager, Audie Attar.

Speaking to the South China Morning Post, Attar praised McGregor for achieving what no one had previously accomplished in the sport, but acknowledged that with the success, came distractions. Before adding that his man is now fully refocused.

“I’ve seen a level of fire that’s been reignited with him. And I think that it’s no secret in terms of how successful he’s been. We’ve done things that nobody ever thought we could do, from the Floyd Mayweather fight to the type of contracts that he’s been able to earn. We’re very proud of that. Those don’t come easy.

“But those come with a lot of, I think, distractions and things that allow you to lose sight of what was really important to you. And the one thing that’s exciting for me is to see he’s refocused, and we all need that in life.”

After certain ‘distractions’ over the last couple of years resulted in the Irishman having several run ins with the law, Attar believes that McGregor’s purpose in life, both professionally and personally are aligned again now. And with that in mind, the Paradigm Sports Management CEO is telling fans to sit back and enjoy the Conor of old at UFC 246.

“Life is not linear, it’s not black or white, and we’re all gonna need to at times refocus and keep track of what’s important to us – what’s our purpose professionally, what’s our purpose personally. And I think when you keep those two things aligned and moving in the right direction together, I think you’re gonna have harmony in your life and happiness.

“And that’s where he is right now. He understands who he is. And he’s focused on achieving that. That’s why we’ve talked about this year being a season, not just one fight. I’m just so excited because I haven’t seen this in a couple of years and I’m telling people just sit back and you’ll see a performance of an old Conor, and I really believe that, because I believe that work’s being put in, and you can’t fake that.”

Although McGregor has consistently called for a rematch with Khabib Nurmagomedov, following his loss to him in his last outing to the UFC Octagon at UFC 229, the 31 year is not short of options for fights to take in 2020.

“I just saw him a week ago and spent the night at his house and we had a long night just talking business, we went over some stuff. There’s so many options for him.

“The thing about Conor McGregor is, if he focuses on his process, on what he can control, the outcome will be great, no matter who’s in front of him. That’s the key, and that’s the one thing we keep talking about, which he keeps talking about over and over again.”

And with so many options, and a newly focused McGregor concentrating on the process and not the outcome, Attar is excited to see the next chapter of the ‘Conor McGregor story’.

“What excites me is that he’s focused on the season, he’s focused on the process, he’s focused on what he controls, and that’s why all of those fights could potentially make sense, they’re all exciting.

“So it’s really what’s gonna motivate him, and keep driving him and his ambitions to be the best him out there. And I think that then that will give the fans what they wanna see, great competition against a worthy opponent, and bringing something that is very relatable, a guy that has achieved and dreamed and dared to do something that nobody thought he could do it,” Attar stated.

“But that’s within all of us. And that’s what’s been so appealing about the Conor McGregor story, is that you see someone who’s gone from nothing to something, and he dreamed about it and he documented it the entire time, and he put himself out there. But he achieved it. And if he failed, he got back up. Because again, life’s not black and white, and it’s not all wins – you’re gonna fall down on your face and you’re gonna get back up and keep going.”

As well as the question about whether we’ll see the Conor of old on his return, many fans have questioned whether ‘The Notorious’ would still be the huge draw that he was in the past. This question was answered emphatically however, when UFC 246 sold out in a reported three minutes, with a gate of $10 million.

According to Attar, this was made even more impressive by the fact that January 18th is a ‘very bad date’.

“And it was a very bad date,” Attar said, laughing. “Let’s put it that way; a bad date with a short runway when it was announced. But there’s no denying the power of Conor McGregor – the McGregor effect of everything that’s he’s involved with.

“Fortunately he’s not only a client but he’s a business partner of mine so we’ve built some great things together, and you see the power that he has with everything that he touches, and that’s why when he gets on a stage right now where he makes sure that he does everything right, he wants to focus on the process.”

After a rocky couple of years, Audie Attar believes that Conor McGregor is back on the right track, and is fighting for his legacy in the sport he loves and is so passionate about.

“At the end of the day, happiness isn’t just about how much money you make. It’s about legacy. It’s about what type of impact you have in something you love dearly. He loves this sport. He’s so passionate about this.

“To be able to achieve what he has, has not been an easy task. By any stretch of the imagination. So the key right now is making sure he wants to leave his mark and his legacy on his own terms, as opposed to someone else telling him how it should be.”

Do you think Conor McGregor’s career will get back on track in 2020?


See also:


Tagged: , , , , ,

Leave comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.