WHILE DANA WHITE may be the face (and mouth) of the UFC, two of the key cogs in mixed martial arts’ biggest promotion are Joe Silva and Sean Shelby, though you rarely hear them speak.
Whether it’s signing fighters, releasing them or making matches, the buck usually stops with these two so it’s especially fascinating to get their thoughts on Ireland’s brightest MMA prospect, Conor McGregor.
In short, they tell SevereMMA that McGregor is one of those special fighters who fans take to very quickly and that makes it much easier to put him in high-profile fights.
Silva says: ”Every now and then, you’ll get this guy, could have one UFC fight, and there’s something about them, people just grab onto it.
“It’s like, ‘that guy, I love that guy.’ And it helps when that guy can also fight.
“So, that’s what you get with Conor McGregor, you have a guy who, yes, he’s an excellent fighter, but he has a charisma to him that people have instantly taken a liking to him.
“But, it will be interesting, because that also puts a lot of pressure. You don’t get to build yourself in the shadows, in the background work your way up. Already everybody’s aware of him and they’re like, ‘We want to see this guy in big time fights.’”
