Mailbag: Will Conor McGregor face any consequences in the MMA world for his sexual assault verdict?

Is the MMA world going to turn its back on Conor McGregor now, the way a bunch of companies already have? What would the cost to Jon Jones’ legacy be if he never fights Tom Aspinall? And who are the best of the rest who never fought in the UFC?

All that and more in this week’s mailbag. To ask a question of your own, hit up @BenFowlkesMMA or @benfowlkes.bsky.social.

A few of his business associates sure seem to be. After being found liable for sexual assault in Ireland, he got cut out of a video game and had his various beverages basically banned from stores in his home country, leading to the owner of his Proper 12 whiskey announcing that it would cut him out of the marketing and branding aspect entirely. That’s remarkable, since the branding/marketing aspect was the only thing the whiskey had going for it.

Clearly, the Conor McGregor brand has become a toxic one … outside of combat sports. Does that mean the UFC wouldn’t still gladly welcome him back in 2025? I doubt it. I think if he ever did get in shape to fight and stayed that way long enough to make it to the cage, then the UFC would eagerly throw him in there and count the money without ever mentioning any of this.

But you can’t invite McGregor to your party anymore without at least facing some questions about it. UFC CEO Dana White just told us that one reason he didn’t want to do business with Francis Ngannou was that he’s “not a good guy.” So what about McGregor? Is he a good guy? Because they just had an entire trial in Ireland that concluded he is not, and his response since then has been to double down on social media in a way that isn’t going to win anyone over.

The last six years or so of this man’s career have been marked by lopsided defeats inside the cage and disgusting behavior outside of it. The longest section of his Wikipedia page now is the one labeled “controversies,” and it includes no fewer than three sexual assault allegations, one of which has just been proven in court.

Who wants to cheer for that guy now? Who wants to actively put money in his pocket by purchasing a pay-per-view he’s on? I have no doubt that the answer to both those questions is "some MMA fans." But in order for me to retain any faith in humanity, I have to think it’s fewer people now than it was before.

Fedor Emelianenko would have to be at the very top of that list. It’s true that he fought in a different era, especially for the heavyweight division. It’s also true that he failed to evolve late in his career as the competition wised up and his body slowed down.

Still, he beat everybody there was to beat in PRIDE FC back when it had the superior heavyweight class overall. The UFC was just doing Tim Sylvia vs. Andrei Arlovski on an endless loop back then, and once they became free agents Fedor smoked them both in the first round.

As for other fighters who make my list, I’d add Shinya Aoki, Igor Vovchanchyn and (at least for the moment) Patricio Pitbull.

That was a big win for Petr Yan and a necessary one. Shutting out a former champ like Deiveson Figueiredo on the scorecards goes a long way toward proving that Yan still has some arrows left in the quiver.

It also helps remind people that while his three straight losses look bad on paper, they’re not so awful once you take a closer look. The first was that illegal knee on Aljamain Sterling. Then a split decision loss to Sean O’Malley that probably could have gone either way. Lastly a decision loss to Merab Dvalishvili, the current champ, who did the same thing to Yan that he’s done to basically everyone else.

As for where it ranks, somewhere below Dominick Cruz’s triumphant return against Takeya Mizugaki (which also happens to be my favorite). One thing I wonder about, though, is whether the timing and location of the win will limit the boost Yan gets from it. This was the main event of a UFC Fight Night event from Macau, airing in North America in the early hours of a Saturday morning. A lot of people probably didn’t even know it was on. Some will circle back to watch it, but others won’t. And if a tree falls in the forest at six in the morning with only a few people around to hear it…

A lot depends on what we consider “big time,” but I’d have to say it’s BKFC. (Though the BKFC also has a strong McGregor tie, so it’ll be interesting to see how it handles that.)

In general, I’m surprised and impressed with bare-knuckle boxing’s staying power so far. It seems to exist right in this sweet spot among the combat sports fan Venn diagram where it can draw in the UFC’s fans without competing against the UFC, while also attracting a few stray boxing or pro wrestling fans in addition to online weirdos who just want to see human carnage.

We have to at least consider the possibility that the UFC would do the same thing with pay-per-view points as it did with sponsorships. Newer fans may not realize it, but that used to be a huge part of the financial picture for fighters. Many made more from fight night sponsorships than they did from their UFC pay.

Remember those banners they’d unfurl behind fighters? Remember the shorts and hats and T-shirts that they’d wrestle back onto their sweaty bodies in time for the post-fight interview? Even lesser-known fighters cashed good checks from those. The UFC knew it and incorporated it into contract negotiations, telling fighters that they should sign for less money and get good fight card placement, which would result in better sponsor payouts.

The UFC used those sponsorships to subsidize fighter pay, then yanked the rug out from fighters while offering them a pittance based on experience rather than star power in return. There was a lot of anger and frustration about this at first, but then it died down. The fighters who remembered the old way eventually moved on. The new ones had never known any other system, so they didn’t even question it. Why wouldn’t the UFC think that pay-per-view points would be a similar story?

Right now, pay-per-view is still profitable enough that it’s not going anywhere. I think the most likely scenario for a new broadcast rights deal involves the UFC splitting up its product across a couple platforms but probably keeping pay-per-views with ESPN+.

And if some day it does go away, with the UFC pocketing more upfront money? I think champion fighters may see a small bump in pay, but mostly they’ll be told to take what they get and shut up about it. Because where else are they going to go and do better?

At this point, there’s no way to say no. The only real question is, how much would it affect Jon Jones’ legacy if he never fights Tom Aspinall, and how lasting would that effect prove to be?

Clearly, it would have an impact. Just look at how many times Jones was asked about Aspinall during the lead up to UFC 309. The man walked out of an interview on sight when he realized it was British dudes who were going to ask about Aspinall. “Gas Hands” Tom didn’t even fight and was still a main character all week, so obviously it’s on people’s minds.

If Jones retires or relinquishes the heavyweight title without fighting him, people will inevitably say that he ducked Aspinall. That always dings a fighter’s legacy, especially when it happens toward the end of a career. You know how MMA judges tend to put more weight on a takedown in the last 30 seconds of a round than one in the first 30 seconds? It’s kind of the same deal.

But I’ve also found that as years pass, people tend to focus more on the highlights and the whole body of work. It’s why, whenever I hear a fighter talk about how they can’t go out on a loss, I want to explain that actually they can, that people won’t remember this part as much as they assume, unless of course they stick around too long and it gets really sad.

Personally, I’m still choosing to believe that this fight will happen. Jones says he’s already negotiating with the UFC. Aspinall says he’s optimistic and waiting for the call. There’s really no other fight to make. At least, not one that makes nearly as much sense for all parties involved. And, come on, who is Jones kidding? We all know he’s not ready to go home and stay there.