Conor McGregor Zooms To Top Contender Status After UFC 179

With the way Conor McGregor has been stealing everyone's thunder during press conferences and even during fights, it is no wonder that the Fighting Irish has already gained massive following and numerous rivalries in the featherweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. That was in full display after the Jose Aldo and Chad Mendes rematch in Rio de Janeiro in UFC 179 last weekend.

The focus of attention to the rising contender was in full effect when both players mentioned him in their speeches after the fight. While Aldo and Mendes were more mocking in tone rather than challenging, the mere mention of a fighter who has barely registered four official fights at the Octagon was telling.

"My court is full now," Aldo told the crowd after winning unanimously over Mendes Saturday. "I am the king, Chad is the prince, and there is a joker now."

The joker tag was an obvious reference to McGregor who was sitting ring side during the fight. Even the conquered Mendes, who put up the biggest challenge to date to the reigning champion, was eager to add in some trash talking with McGregor in mind, saying that he is still looking forward to whipping the Irishman.

The said comments are directly different from the description made by UFC President Dana White who described the fighter as the next sensation in the UFC world. According to an article last month posted by MMA Junkie, White was all praises for the full of bravado star declaring that the 26-year-old Dublin native is "bigger than Brock Lesnar when he was here. Bigger than any of the fighters we've ever had."

The said claim has some proof to some extent as a Yahoo Sports report says that McGregor is the most searched digital streaming service Fight Pass of the mixed martial arts universe. Additionally, Lorenzo Ferttita also declared that the Fighting Irishman can command a 60 percent television share from his home country whenever he fights. On top of that, 11 percent of the tickets sold during his last bout in Las Vegas came from his homeland.

McGregor is aware of the attention has he has ramped up his activity in social media and is slowly rising up to social media darling status proof of which is his 240,000 followers on Twitter. He also does not shy away from controversial topics as he was tweeted a controversial post of having a threesome with Ronda Rousey and Meisha Tate and has also responded to a tweet by Ben Askren who commented that the UFC was smart by pairing up McGregor with non-wrestler for tune-up matches. The Fighting Irishman retaliated by saying that he is the number one contender and even brought up the subject of the six figure cheques in his detractor's grill.