Who is the “bigger star,” Ronda Rousey or Conor McGregor? And “by far” or not “by far”?
ADAM TINDAL, MMATorch contributor
Right here and now, Conor McGregor is the bigger star due simply to the higher activity level. I think the majority of the mainstream public and casual fan base can relate more to Ronda Rousey because she is a female pioneering something that seemed impossible for any woman to accomplish. There was a time where both fighters were on arguably an equal level of stardom, but over a year off for Rousey has given Conor an opportunity to run with the spotlight by himself. Should Ronda return with an explosive victory, it will no doubt hoist her right back on the heels of McGregor once again.
NICK GRINUPS, MMATorch contributor
If you would have asked me this question one year ago before UFC 193, I would have said hands down Rhonda Rousey. But flash forward 11 months from that historic night and McGregor has beaten Jose Aldo and Nate Diaz in the biggest cards of year. McGregor has brought a whole new fan base to MMA and at this moment McGregor is doing and will be doing bigger numbers than Ronda Rousey. McGregor’s star power is getting bigger by the day and Rousey’s smaller by the day. Ronda could change all of that now that’s fighting later this year, but I would say McGregor by a good margin is more famous that Ronda Rousey at this moment.
FRANK HYDEN, MMATorch contributor
McGregor is the bigger star, by far. That’s no disrespect to Rousey, who’s still a big star in her own right. However, McGregor has the biggest PPV buyrates of all-time for MMA. It’s about results, but it’s also about images. McGregor came back and avenged his defeat. The last image anyone has of Rousey is her getting her head kicked off by Holly Holm. Rousey is a huge star, but McGregor is the Sun. You got all these guys in all these divisions calling for a fight against him. And why? Because that’s where the money is. I’d love to see Rousey come back and make a run at being the top star, but for now, there’s no question that McGregor is the top star.
JARED DODDS, MMATorch contributor
The bigger star is Conor McGregor, and it’s by a lot. There are a couple factors that lead to that point. The first is that he is a male fighter, and unfortunately a segment of the casual MMA fans still do not want to watch Women’s MMA (those people are missing out by the way, they’re always great fights). The second factor is that he has been more active in recent years than Ronda. MMA is a very “what have you done for me lately?” sport, and Conor has simply done more. The final factor is his ability to talk. People seem to gravitate more towards his brand of brash commentary than the intimidation of Rousey, which endears him more to the crowd.
NOW CHECK OUT PART ONE OF THIS ROUNDTABLE TOPIC: ROUNDTABLE (pt. 2): Who is the bigger star, Ronda Rousey or Conor McGregor? Is it even close?
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